A World Without Bending
by author12306
Summary: After the fall of the Earth Nation Avatar after Korra the next Avatar was never found. People forgot about the Avatar as benders were hunted to near extinction. People's lives are ruined and bonds are formed as a few remaining benders try to protect the city they've built. Rated for blood and violence, language is censored! Rating may go up due to excessive violence.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own AtLA or LoK

A/N: Hey y'all! :D Thanks a bunch for taking time to check this out. Okay, so this is a sequel to my fic Ash the Next Avatar, but for this to make sense you don't need to have read it by any means. This is just a classic next Avatar in a world where bending is outlawed story. Hope ya enjoy it ;)

* * *

Prologue&amp;Chapter 1

_Prologue_

History is written by the winning side in a war. Laws are made by the winning side. Those from the losing side, in some situations, are even erased from the planet. They are left with no future or hope. That is the fate of the benders. With their Avatar useless and their numbers dwindling the benders lost. Schools teach the evils done by benders, and also enforce the laws against benders. Those born with the ability to bend are safe up until the time their bending is revealed. Upon being discovered they are hunted and executed. They are brutally murdered or left with horrible wounds to die from them, but some survive. Some escape. Those lucky few band together to save other benders. They live in cities, hidden away within nature. They are few, far apart, and only the extremely lucky ever find them before they themselves are found and disposed of.

_Chapter 1_

The cold, icy, snowy tundra was silent except for the sound of ragged breathing and crunching snow. A girl with matted, pitch-black hair and pale, wind-raw skin ran through the knee deep snow. She tripped and fell into the snow, sending cold, burning pains through her already numb face. She wore a t-shirt, soaked by sweat and melted snow, and a pair of sweat pants that were frozen stiff from the knees down. She wore no shoes, only frozen socks. She was dehydrated and hungry. Her eyes were hopeless; the amber irises only reflecting the bleak white snow that seemed to match her future. She tripped again. With forced effort she lifted herself from the ground and kept on running.

A low howl pealed through the air behind her. Eagle-wolves had been tracking her for days; so had the creatures' masters. She tripped again, but this time she heard something land in the snow just feet behind her.

_This is it, _she thought; no matter how hard she tried she couldn't draw enough air into her stinging lungs. She laid there, waiting for the creature to kill her or for a bullet to go through her head, _All the people who risked prison for me, I've failed them. I'm sorry. I failed. I don't wanna die! _Silent tears dripped down her face, leaving stinging tracks of warm against the icy cold. The muscles in her legs ached. The bottoms of her feet were bruised and bleeding from the impact of running non-stop for two weeks. Her fingers and feet were frost-bitten. She thought, for just a moment, that maybe she was just another useless body taking up oxygen and space. She laid her head back into the snow. The sky was solid grey and small snowflakes were coming down. She heard the paws of the eagle-wolf getting much closer. She heard someone call it off and heard a gun click.

A loud battle-cry broke the air as six young men, the youngest being fourteen and the oldest being twenty, lunged from a snow drift. The packed snow turned to powder as they broke from their cover. They wore ragged clothes, not suitable for the weather but better than what the girl wore. Blasts of fire, chunks of rock and ice, and a few blasts of air quickly sent the eagle-wolves fleeing.

"Look it's the coward who fled last time!" one of them called as they stopped using their fire-bending and punched their opponent in the face hard enough to earn a loud crack.

Someone broke away from the fight and approached the girl. He laid his jacket over her.

It was warm, and the girl was thankful that she had it now. She looked up at the young man who had given it to her. He had brown hair and soft green eyes. His skin was pale but his cheeks were bright red from the cold wind. Some stubble covered his chin as if he hadn't shaved for a few days. His featured were soft, giving him a slightly more feminine face. He crouched beside her.

"Do you have a name?" he asked her softly.

"Jen," she answered.

"Don't worry Jen, soon you'll be somewhere with food, water, and a warm roof over your head," he smiled, "My name is Mu."

"Thank you," Jen smiled weakly back.

Mu turned back to the fight. He stayed close enough to protect her if needed.

Soon the "catchers" had retreated.

"Rusty, Rosy, one of you go ahead and warn Reiki we're bringing in a real sick bender," Mu commanded.

A boy with neatly cut black hair that swooped over one of his eyebrows nodded. A tattered red scarf hung around his neck, "What should I tell him is wrong?"

"Venom. They used venom coated darts on her. Tell him to be ready for that. Frostbite and hypothermia too. Severe dehydration as well," Mu said.

The boy, Rusty, took a moment to commit the list to memory before nodding and dashing off.

Another boy who looked similar to Rusty approached Mu, "There's gonna be a bad blizzard. We need to find shelter soon."

"Rosy, we can't. This girl's gonna die if we don't hurry and get her back to the city. See the cuts on her arms," he paused to roll up the sleeve of his jacket on her arm, "those cuts, the way the skin around them is that gross, and they haven't stopped bleeding even though this one looks like it's days old. Those are definite signs they used venom coated weapons. She's also hypothermic. If we want her to live, then we need to get back before nightfall; blizzard or no."

The youngest of their small group scampered over through the snow, holding a thick snow coat he had retrieved from the unconscious body of a "catcher".

"Nice job, Cais. I'm sure we'll need that soon with all our new benders," Mu chuckled at the young boy as he picked Jen up. At sometime before that moment she had passed out.

Cais smiled at the praise. He had always been a bit of a teacher's pet to the older members of the rescue team.

"Wow, this girl's light," Mu's eye-brows disappeared under his messily cut hair.

"She's been on the run for two weeks, I doubt she's been eating healthily," another member of the group stated, looking at the slow, unsteady way Jen's chest rose and fell. She was shivering so hard it made it hard to tell if she was breathing correctly. "She looks like Anise."

Mu frowned at the last statement the boy made.

"Sorry!" the boy noticed the expression on his leader's face.

Mu shook his head slightly, "It's fine. I guess she does kind of look like Anise. Just take away the glasses and they could be identical twins."

"Even the jacket, huh?" the boy who had first stated the similarities frowned slightly.

"Do you thee want to go ahead," Mu motioned to him and two others in the group. This left him, Rosy, Cais, and another behind.

"Oh, sure. Any particular reason?" one of them asked.

"I don't want you all getting caught in the blizzard because of me," he smiled. They all knew he would never risk the lives of his team, but he would also keep a few with him just to be on the safe side. Not even he would nobly leave himself open to death.

"Thanks, man. We'll meet up with you back home. Which means don't freeze, deal?" one smirked. The way he walked portrayed sure confidence and smugness.

"Sure, bud," Mu smirked back and waved.

"If she lives, she'll be the first girl back home for two years," Cais murmured with wide eyes.

"Yeah, since Anise and your sister," Mu nodded with a small smile.

"The rest of the guy's will be swarming all over the poor girl," Rosy shook his head with a small chuckle.

"We still have the laws. They know harassing people, no matter what, is illegal. I don't think many of them will risk it," Mu chuckled.

"She's beautiful, I'll give her that," the fourth guy of the group, named Nobuhide, chuckled.

"I can't wait to get back home and go inside! It's freezing out here," Mu shivered. He had given his jacket up to Jen, and therefore had only a t-shirt and tattered jeans to protect him from the wind.

"Then lets hurry. Don't want you getting sick again," Rosy smirked and turned in the direction the others had already left in. Their pace was fairly quick in the deep snow; they seemed to have been traveling over similar conditions for some time to adapt so well.

The small group continued walking. Soon, as predicted, snow began falling in nearly horizontal sheets. The wind whipped it and it blocked their view.

"We're almost there. I can see the mountain," Mu urged as he bent forward to try and protect Jen from the snow.

"You can see anything in this?" Nobuhide asked disbelievingly.

"Yes I can," Mu answered. Sure enough they reached the wall soon.

Nobuhide took a wide-legged stance and slid his foot across the ground. A thick slab of rock slid to the side. A heavy, thick, metal door stood behind the rock.

Rosy knocked on the door rhythmically.

Someone from the other side opened it. Rusty grinned at them, "Welcome back y'all."

The small group entered and another boy waiting by the door closed the stone and then the door.

"Reiki's already ready to take care of her. Nick wants to know as soon as she's well enough to speak with him," Rusty reported.

"Alright. He probably wants to see if she's fitting to go to the power plants," Mu nodded, his expression darkening.

"He wouldn't! Do you think he would?" Rusty looked just as worried.

"I think he would. We need more earth-benders down there and if she's as weak as the files show he won't hesitate to send her down there. He also thinks it's too crowded up here as is," Mu sighed as he glanced at the unconscious girl in his arms.

"I miss the days before the power plant. When everyone lived up here and took shifts down there," Rusty gazed sadly at the floor.

They had reached a building built into the stone wall. It had four steps leading up to double doors. Mu ascended the stairs in two long strides and shouldered the door open.

"Welcome back, I hear you've got a new patient for me," Reiki, a tall, extremely handsome healer smiled. He was a very talented water-bender, and had spent the earliest years of his life learning from the healer Ann. He loved getting new patients to care for.

"Yeah. She's in pretty bad shape, but I trust you can help her," Mu nodded as he carefully laid Jen down into one of the prepared hospital beds. The hospital was a single-story, rectangle-shaped building with walls lined with beds. The beds had mismatched, patchy sheets but they were clean and all of the mattresses were the softest in the entire city. The hospital was also one of the few clean areas of the city.

Jen shifted slightly, her eyes opened into thin slits before closing again once she had settled.

"You should go take a shower and eat something, sweetie. You've been outside for three weeks," Reiki smiled at Mu.

Mu chuckled, "Sure thing. I can't wait to get some coffee!"

Reiki set right to work inspecting the severity of Jen's condition. He quickly noticed that she had frostbite. Her fingertips were purple and swollen, as were her toes. From her toes to her ankles the skin was raw and red from being covered in icy fabric. He carefully took the jacket off of her. His expression darkened slightly as he looked at the series of random cuts that covered her arms and tore her sleeves. All of them had an unhealthy, infected look to them. Some still trickled blood, and some looked as if the skin were dying around them. This was one of the worst outcomes he'd ever seen from the venom coated weapons the "catchers" used. He pinched up the skin on the back of Jen's wrist. It fell slowly. She was dehydrated.

Reiki whistled in amazement, "I'm surprised you survived this long. Welcome to the family." He spoke quietly as he set up an IV. Deep down he doubted she would wake up. The thought of losing another patient before he even got to know them scared him, but not as much as the thought of losing a patient he did know. He tried to heal Jen's frostbitten hands but made little progress with the digits. He only managed to heal the skin enough that it would heal on its own. He did the same with her toes and feet before cleaning her arms. As he carefully changed her out of her damp clothes and into a new, dry, oversized t-shirt he saw another injury that alarmed him. An arrow was lodged in her shoulder blade with most of the shaft of the arrow broken off. The injury looked infected and skin was already growing back in around the head of the arrow. Reiki set to work removing the projectile and cleaning the wound thoroughly. He healed it. "Maybe I'm so afraid to lose you because you look so familiar," he sat down in a chair pulled up beside her bed. He examined the jacket she had been wearing. It was Mu's jacket. _He was really concerned about this girl to let her borrow that, _Reiki thought as he picked it up and examined the roughly sewn hole over the left-hand breast of the jacket. A permanent, coppery stain surrounded the small area of mismatching thread. Both the copper stain and the black thread stood out against the light grey fabric.

* * *

Mu looked around at the buildings around him. He was one of the ten creators of the city, and it was his pride. The tall cave ceiling was lit by an odd mineral found to glow. The jagged walls were spotted with windows and doors cut out of the rock as well as entryways into staircases. Buildings of stone and odd scraps of card-board, wood, brick, plaster, stone, and other obscure materials were built into a circle like shape with the shortest buildings leading in until it reached one large building in the center. It towered over the rest and nearly reached the glowing ceiling. In the dark corners of the large cave there were barely visible ladders leading into the ground. At the end of the city farthest from the entrance tunnel there was a large doorway cut into the wall and light spilled out of it brighter than anywhere else. The entrance tunnel and the small area of land before it were about fifteen feet higher than the floor of most of the city, but a wide case of stairs led to the floor. Above bridges crisscrossed from wall to wall. A few buildings jutted from the walls, they were flat topped and rectangular. They were short and plain stone with nothing but swinging doors. These two buildings were the infirmary and the cafeteria. He pushed open a light door and entered the empty room. Tables filled it as did the smell of food but no one inhabited the room. He walked back towards an open hallway leading back to the kitchen. He walked through the hallway, which was filled with drying herbs hanging from the walls, and entered the kitchen. It was a fairly large, open room with a floor that slanted slightly. Counters, two refrigerators, three stoves, and a sink lined the walls.

"I thought this was already established, no one in the kitchen unless it's your job to be here," the cook began to scold before he glanced up, "Mu! You're back!"

"Hey Thyme, I just came to make myself some coffee. Can't really have a stove at my place with TNT around the place," Mu smiled tiredly as he walked to a coffee maker sitting beside one of the fridges.

"Of course. We can't have him around any fire," Thyme chuckled, remembering how many times people rooming with the fire-bender TNT had come to the cafeteria to make coffee or other simple foods that people were aloud to make within their own housing. None of the buildings had kitchens, but most did have stoves and sinks to be used for making very simple, quick things and coffee, "I know it might be the wrong time to ask, but how did the rescue go?"

"Surprisingly well. She at least made it to the city alive. Can't guarantee she'll be that way for long though," Mu answered as he dug around in a drawer for the right coffee single-cup grounds. He found one of the foil-topped plastic cups and pulled a mug from an over-head cabinet. He made himself a cup of coffee.

"That's better than the past few weeks, at least," Thyme sighed. It had been bad for nearly five months. Rescue teams had returned unsuccessful or missing members. It was a nice change to have everyone come back with one more person.

"Yeah. Ugh, I have to go report to Nick after I get a shower. I just want to sleep," Mu muttered bitterly as he leaned against the counter and finished his coffee.

"Couldn't you ask Rusty or Rosy to do it? They're in your apartment too," Thyme suggested.

"They're probably already fast asleep though. I'll just get it over with and then go to sleep. Maybe I can ask Nobuhide to do it," Mu suddenly pondered the thought. With little more thought he pulled out his cellphone and texted Nobuhide to report on the rescue to Nick. The city had its own cellphone service and internet servers.

"That solves one of your problems, now you just have to get home and take a shower without falling asleep," Thyme laughed.

"I just have to get past TNT and the others without getting pulled into a conversation," Mu said as he put the mug in the sink and walked towards the hallway.

"See you later, Mu," Thyme waved. He returned to cleaning the counter, with the thought of: _Did I already clean this spot?_

Mu strode out of the cafeteria and walked down the street between some of the shortest buildings. He reached a building made of brick and opened the door, which was unfortunately made of cardboard.

"Mu!" he was greeted by the weight of someone hugging him.

"Hey, TNT. That kinda hurts, think you could stop trying to crush my ribs?" Mu grunted as he tried to break TNT's death-like hug.

"I missed you all! I was stuck all alone here!" TNT whined. His hair was messy, and when he moved too swiftly it would shed soot into the air. His eyes were bright amber, so close to red it made him look nearly demonic.

"Then you can hang out with Nobuhide when he gets back," Mu finally managed to remove TNT's arms from around his chest. He walked past the fire-bender and down the hall. Most of the apartments had a main room, two stories with two to four rooms each, and a bathroom located somewhere. Mu walked to a door at the edge of the tiny living room. It was the bathroom. There was a sink, a toilet, and a shower with a frosted plastic door. It was about three feet by two feet and offered barely enough room to move around. He left his clothes in a neatly folded pile on the counter and showered quickly, not wanting to waste heated water. After he'd washed two weeks worth of dirt from his hair and skin he turned off the water and dried off with a stiff, air-dried towel that seemed not to have been washed in a good long while. He didn't bother to put his shirt on and just left it on the floor piled with other dirty clothes. He left the bathroom and walked into the living room. He opened one door to reveal a spiraling staircase. He walked up it past one floor and got to the third floor of the apartment. This floor had two rooms. His room and Cais's room. He opened the door on the left of the small hallways. The room was small. It had enough floor space between the two walls adjacent to the door for Mu to lay down, and between the door and the bed there was about five feet of space. On either side of the small bed was about two feet. He collapsed onto the squeaky bed and pulled the oddly fluffy blanket up to his chin. It didn't take longer than three minutes for him to fall asleep.

* * *

Reiki checked Jen multiple times for the signs of the different types of venom that coated many of the weapons. Some were taken from snakes and were known for thinning blood, others for clotting it. Some taken from spiderions* were known for causing the skin around the wound to rot and die. Some were from other odd arrays of creatures that attacked the nervous system, causing anything from seizures to complete failure of organs. Reiki had seen almost every type of venom they used and had stored antivenom for almost every one. He knew that Jen had been affected by one that thinned blood and one that caused the skin to rot. He opened a cabinet and opened a safe with a refrigerated inside. He retrieved two vials of clear liquid and measured them out, injecting them into the IV bag. There wasn't anything else he could do for Jen except hope she woke up. He walked over to a small cot on the floor in the corner of the large building. He lived in the building and hardly left, only to get food and tend to those in the city too injured to be transported to the infirmary. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept; people kept coming in with injuries in need of healing and drew him from his sleep. He still remembered being half asleep when the doors swung open so hard that they slammed into the walls. Rusty had been telling him about the next case he was going to get. He pushed the thought from his mind and rolled to face the wall. His eyes closed heavily and he finally got the ever needed sleep he had lacked recently.

* * *

Nobuhide entered the tallest building in the center of the city.

"Hey, when did you guys get back?" a young man, of about twenty, sitting behind a desk asked gleefully.

"About an hour. Nick in his office?" Nobuhide let the door to the building swing shut behind him.

"When isn't he? Just go on up if you need to talk to him," the man grinned.

"Alright. I guess I'll see you at the house later?" Nobuhide asked.

"Yeah. I get off in ten minutes and I plan to go home and sleep. I don't even care about getting a shower or anything," he yawned.

Nobuhide chuckled and walked through the door next to the desk that led to a staircase. It went up many flights and took about five minutes to climb. When Nobuhide reached the top he was surprised to find the door unguarded. That was odd, normally there was a single guard. He opened the door.

Nick, the current leader of the city, was fast asleep at his desk. He could only have been about twenty-five, but shaggy hair made him look a few years older and more overworked.

Nobuhide walked over and kicked the legs of Nick's chair out, sending him to the ground.

Nick jolted up, eyes wide at the sudden awakening, "Oh, you're back?"

"Yeah, I came to report," Nobuhide nodded as he picked the chair up and sat down. Nick glared at him slightly but pulled up another chair from near the wall and sat down. "We may very well have a new bender. She was pretty banged up when we got her here but I think she'll be fine soon. She survived two weeks on the run. From the time we spent tailing her she doesn't have very much skill. I'd suggest she go to the lower levels, honestly she'd be best in the power plants and water cleaning facilities with how little ability she has."

"You know you don't make those decisions, Nobuhide. Did you get any recordings of her fighting?" Nick asked. At some point during the conversation he had swung one leg up to rest with the ankle on his opposite knee. His elbows rested on the calf of his supported leg and his interlocked fingers supported his chin.

"Regrettably, no. You'll have to wait until she's recovered to evaluate her skill," Nobuhide sighed.

"That's quiet alright. It'll give me time to think on if we need anyone else in the plants," Nick smiled calmly.

"She looks exactly like Anise," Nobuhide added absently; his eyes were sad and his mouth was a straight line of uncertainty.

Nick froze, glaring slightly at Nobuhide for mentioning the name, "Does she, now?"

"Exactly like her, only she's got glasses. They could be twins," Nobuhide answered.

"Did this seem to bother Mu at all?" Nick asked curiously.

"A little. Cais mentioned it like he hoped it might be her. I think that's really what bothered poor Mu," Nobuhide answered.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he hated her. By the way, does the girl have a name?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, all we managed to get from her before she passed out was that she's named Jen," Nobuhide answered.

"Good. That's all I need for now, you're free to go do whatever," Nick waved him off and quickly stole back the comfy chair the younger boy had stolen.

Nobuhide waved as he left and scampered down the stairs. He headed straight for the cafeteria.

* * *

Reiki was more than a little startled, after three days of quiet, when Jen suddenly woke up. She was frightened, and resembled a wild animal with her matted hair and scared eyes, "Where am I?"

"Welcome to the City of Benders in the Mountain. You're safe here, Jen, I promise," Reiki smiled. He had grown used to having very one-sided conversations with her over the past three days. To make it more convincing he threw in a warm smile and slight incline of his upper body like a small, respectful bow.

"How'd you know my name?" she asked.

"You told my friend after he rescued you, just before you collapsed from injury and exhaustion," Reiki assured.

Memories rushed back to Jen and allowed her shoulders to relax slightly. This man in front of her wasn't a threat, she assured herself. Her fingers and toes stung unbearably, she noticed. Her throat was dry and her arms also stung. She looked down at one arm and saw an IV catheter in her arm, "What is your name?"

"I'm Reiki," he smiled and slowly approached. He sat in the chair beside her bed.

"Reiki. That's a nice name," she said quietly.

"I haven't had a chance to say this while you were conscious, but welcome to the family Jen," he offered his hand to shake.

"I miss _my _family," Jen stated almost blankly.

"I know. Most of us do at first. Do you wanna talk about it?" Reiki offered. As well as helping physical injuries he was often the one to listen when others had emotional problems.

"I'm glad I lived, I didn't put them in danger for nothing. Their help didn't go unused," Jen murmured.

"They would never say it was for nothing, Jen," Reiki smiled, "Even had you died and they had learned of it they would still be glad to know you had lived two more weeks."

"R-really?" Jen asked quietly.

"I guarantee it. And I know it's of little help, but I know that they'd be very happy if they knew you were alive. I know we're also very happy you're alive," Reiki said.

Jen's stomach growled rather loudly.

"I bet you are hungry. You haven't had a proper meal in quiet awhile. I'll be right back with some food for you," Reiki stood up and walked towards the doors, "Also, stay here. Please don't go wandering off and make us look for you."

Jen nodded. She looked down at her hands. Her fingers were swollen and a black-purple color. She tried to make a fist with either hand but couldn't move the muscles in her arms and hands very much.

The doors to the infirmary swung open and Mu walked in. His brown hair looked like it had been cut a tiny bit with a centimeter less of it hanging over his forehead, "I see you're awake, Jen."

Jen shrunk in on herself. She couldn't help being afraid; for the last two weeks almost every human she'd come across had harmed her.

"It's alright Jen. I promise I won't hurt you. My name is Mu. Do you know where you are?" Mu spoke calmly.

"Reiki said I was in the City of Benders in the Mountain," Jen answered.

"That's right. Welcome to our city. Hopefully you like it here," Mu smiled, "Do you happen to know where Reiki went?"

"He went to get me some food," Jen answered.

"Then he shouldn't be gone too long," Mu said, mostly to himself. He sat down on the foot of the bed closest to the doors and rubbed his side as if it hurt. He seemed far better rested than when he arrived in the city with Jen.

"How long have I been here?" Jen asked quietly.

"Three days so far. We were getting pretty worried about you but you pulled through. You seem like you'd be strong enough for the rescue team," Mu grinned.

"Rescue team?" Jen blinked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that it's only something we have in the city! We have three options someone can pick when they're brought to the city. The first and most common is the job of Store owner or Restaurant owner. The second and second most common is the rescue team. The last and least popular is the destruction and construction group. The Shop owners and Restaurant owners usually stay in the city for months on end but will leave in swarms to go find goods to sell and food to cook. The rescue team has multiple small groups that go out whenever we find reports of wanted benders; we'll rescue them and bring them here. The destruction and construction group is in charge of destroying old buildings and clearing more room for the city and building the buildings. They stay in the city full time," Mu answered.

"What are you part of?" Jen asked.

"I'm part of the rescue team. I'm the leader of one of the groups. Actually, the group that brought you here," Mu smiled.

"I think I remember you. Did you give me your coat?" Jen asked, eyeing the coat that still sat with her old clothes. Wait, her old clothes. She was wearing different clothes. Someone had changed her clothes while she was unconscious. She blinked at the thought and momentarily wondered if it had been Reiki.

"I did. I'm glad you're alive, Jen. My team's been having awful luck recently with bringing people in alive," Mu chuckled humorlessly.

"Maybe I'm just a little luck charm. My coaches at school always said that, maybe it's more true than I thought," she said, trying to ignore his broken tone of voice.

The doors opened as Reiki walked in. He was carrying a steaming bowl and had a bottle of water balanced between his side and arm, "Do you think you can hold the bowl on your own?"

"I don't think so. My arms and hands feel really weak," Jen shook her head.

"At least you're not too prideful to admit it," Reiki chuckled, "Think you could hold the spoon?"

"I doubt it," Jen frowned.

"At least you didn't try and end up burning yourself, like some people when they get hurt," Reiki glanced at Mu.

Mu frowned at him.

"Open wide," Reiki had filled the spoon with rice and broth from the bowl.

Jen shoved her pride aside and let herself be fed like a child. She was just glad she didn't have to move around too much. Her body was exhausted. After she had eaten her fill, only about half of the bowl, she curled up under the blanket and dozed off while Reiki and Mu talked.

* * *

A/N: Thank you a bunch for reading! Reviews are much appreciated but not required. Favorites and follows are deeply appreciated as well :D Can't wait to read what y'all think about it so far! Also, I'd appreciate if you could tell me through PM or review if you'd prefer really long chapters likes this and slow updates, or average length chapters and normal speed updates.

*=mix of a spider and a scorpion


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA or LoK

* * *

Chapter 2

Mu walked up the stairs to Nick's office. Nick wanted to discuss with him what he had already discussed with Nobuhide concerning Jen.

"Hey Mu, come in and sit down," Nick greeted warmly.

"So what did you two decide so far?" Mu asked suspiciously.

Nick's mood seemed to drop and his face grew oddly serious, "Mu, I know you never want to send anyone under to the power plants, but sometimes that's just the best for the city."

"No! You keep saying that, but we're betraying these people! What was wrong with the old system?!" Mu stood so quickly it knocked his chair back. It clattered noisily to the ground, "We promise them a safe shelter, a _family! _And what do we do? We throw them in a dangerous hole in the ground with no health care or sanitation. No clean water or good food! We give them scraps! We surround them with others who were promised the same and deprived! Most of the people down there are practically dead while they work! Have you gone down there? Seen their eyes?! Heard them speak?! No you haven't! Stop saying it's best for the city because it's _not!_"

"Mu, sit down," Nick's jaw was set and his eyes held a fire of anger that hadn't been there a moment before.

Mu seethed as he picked his chair up and sat down. He took deep calming breaths and tried to calm his erratic heart beat.

"The old method was inconvenient. We've been over this. We aren't betraying them. They are out of the elements. They have each other as a family. They can clean their own water and we do allow them trips up for food. They get everything they are promised upon arrival," Nick stated calmly. Mu knew better than to cross him now. He was like a dam about to break, the slightest disruption and he could easily lose his temper and attack the younger earth-bender.

"I won't let you send her down there. She looks too much like Anise. She's amazingly skilled, too. She could hold off the eagle-wolves they sent after her fine until she was nearly dead from starvation. I assure you it would benefit the city to keep her above," Mu copied Nick's dangerously calm voice.

"We'll just have to wait and see. As soon as she is well enough I'll test her skill myself. Does that sound fair?" Nick asked quietly.

"Fair enough I guess. Give me three days after she's released to help her get better control of her bending, please," Mu bowed his head in pleading.

"Sure, I've already made enough exceptions for this girl I can spare her one more," Nick smiled coldly.

"I'll go ask Reiki when she'll be safe to be released," Mu stood and walked towards the door.

"And no cheating, Mu. I realize she looks like Anise but we can't treat any bender better than another," Nick said quietly, warningly.

Mu stayed silent until he was well out of the building. He reached one of the corners where a ladder sat; it led into the ground. He slid down the ladder, barely wrapping his hands around either side. Soon his feet hit the ground with a solid thump and he walked deeper into the dimly lit, low-roofed space. This was a series of caves lit evenly by lamps with sounds of fighting echoing from the branching off tunnels. He walked further until he reached a nearly silent part of the caves. Earth bent into the relative shapes of humans with weak spots for the human body marked stood in rows. Mu threw a punch at one of the stone targets with a roar of anger.

"Treat everyone equally! Yeah right! We hardly treat anyone equal to those on the surface here!" Mu shouted as he punched a hole clean through the rock with the help of his bending. He kicked at the head of the stone, and with the help of his bending sent it flying clean across the small cave. He shouted and screamed and cursed as he beat the stone targets. Soon they all lay in pieces. He exhaled and closed his eyes. This was an odd habit of his, whenever he was angry or upset he would often come to destroy the targets and only then let himself get ahold of himself. He returned to the ladder and climbed up quickly. He walked to the infirmary and pulled open the door.

"Hey Mu. What'd old Nicky have to say?" Reiki asked from by the back cabinet where he was organizing stuff.

"I need to talk to you, Reiki," Mu said, motioning for the healer to follow him outside.

"Sure thing," Reiki nodded and walked to the door with Mu.

"When will you be able to release Jen?" Mu asked once the door had swung shut behind them.

"Uh, it may be about two days. Why? What'd Nick say?" Reiki asked.

"Will she be completely healed by then? I need her to be in perfect health. She can't be distracted by anything. She can't be distracted by pain or injury or exhaustion. Is two days still the time?" Mu asked urgently.

"Yeah, she should be fine by then. I plan to keep her on pain killers for awhile for some of her more severe joint injuries that I can't heal right now but she should be perfect by then. Now tell me what Nick said," Reiki answered, growing uncharacteristically serious by the end of his answer.

"He wants her in the power plant. He's giving me three days after she's released to help her get her bending under control but then he'll be testing her to see if she's worthy of staying up here," Mu said. He leaned against the wall as if his knees had gone weak.

"I'm so sorry, Mu," Reiki put a comforting hand on the other's shoulder. When Nick tested someone to let them stay above he frequently cheated their skills and found ways to make them fail. Very few people ever really passed the test to stay above.

"Should I tell her? Or should I just let her heal and train without knowing the risk?" Mu asked. At times like these he felt truly helpless. So many of his friends were older than him but so few ever answered his questions with a serious intention to help.

"I think you shouldn't tell her what all is at risk but stress it is a serious situation," Reiki offered.

"Sometimes I don't know if this city is a paradise or not anymore," Mu cradled his head in one hand and laughed hopelessly.

"It will get better soon, Mu, I promise," Reiki assured.

Mu shook his head, "How can you be so sure? How do you know Nick will get over Anise's death anytime soon? What about Ayaka's? They were engaged, he lost his love and the girl who was practically his little sister in the same day, how are you so sure that he'll get over it and return the city to how it was before anytime soon? Exactly, we're not sure of it at all!"

"I don't mean he'll get better. I mean he'll relinquish his control of the city soon. I've been talking to him and he's losing his grip. He knows it. Give him a month or two and he'll give up his control to you or one of the other people who've been here awhile," Reiki spoke quietly.

"Imagine that, me running the city. We'd be wiped out faster than I could blink," Mu seemed to be simply speaking aloud at the moment.

"Maybe he'll choose TNT, or maybe even Nobuhide," Reiki reminded.

"I wouldn't mind seeing TNT take over someday," Mu almost smiled at the thought.

"Now that, my friend, could be a disaster," Reiki shook his head and turned back towards the infirmary doors, "You better tell Jen the plan for when she gets out of here."

"I know," Mu followed him inside the infirmary.

Jen was reading a book Reiki had loaned her and seemed fairly absorbed in it.

"Jen, I need to talk to you about when you get out of the infirmary," Mu began.

Jen put the book down and looked up at him.

"Three days after you're released from here you're going to be tested. This test will determine something _very _important that will affect the rest of your life. You need to pass this test, do you understand?" Mu spoke seriously.

"Okay. What type of test is it?" Jen asked.

"It's a test to see what you can do with your bending," Mu answered, "It'll determine where in the city you're allowed to live."

"Oh, I see. Will it be a hard test?" Jen asked.

"Hopefully not after three days of hard training," Mu smiled at her, "I'll make sure you can pass."

"And if I don't, what will happen?" Jen asked.

Mu didn't want to answer. He was anything but proud of the power plants, "You'll be sent to the lowest, most dangerous levels of the city to work their until you die of starvation or accident."

"Not everyone down there dies young, Mu. It's not as awful as he's making it seem, but do try to avoid failing the test," Reiki glared at the other young man, "It's very bad down there, just not that bad. You want to be up here with us."

"But what if I just can't pass?" Jen asked quietly. She had hardly spoken above a whisper since waking up.

"We'll figure something out then. Just focus on recovering for now," Mu had walked over and ruffled her hair.

"How long will it be until I'm released from here?" Jen asked.

"About two or three days. Does that sound good?" Reiki asked.

Jen nodded.

"I'm glad you're alive, Jen. It'll be nice to have a new member here," Mu smiled.

Jen blushed, "You're one of the first people to say you're glad I'm alive. Aside from my family no one's ever said something like that."

Mu looked genuinely surprised, "Weren't you a star athlete and student at your school? Wouldn't people always be admiring you?"

"No. Try to get me to do their homework, yes. Actually try to get along with me, not a chance," Jen smiled slightly. She's spent years in that position with the people around her and saw it as a big, awful joke by then, "And I think your file might have been off about the athlete thing. I didn't do school sports."

"Well, that happens a lot. Once the brilliant person read the report wrong and sent us to the opposite side of the country than where we needed to go," Mu rolled his eyes in memory of that. It had actually been when they had been rescuing Nobuhide. They were lucky he had had help escaping and hadn't needed immediate help.

"That's alarming," Jen chuckled.

"Don't forget the time they gave both groups the same file instead of the two different files," Reiki reminded.

"Good thing it was for two people traveling together," Mu laughed.

"You all have a weird sense of humor," Jen studied them curiously.

"Give it two weeks, you will too Jenny," Mu grinned.

"Hey! Don't call me that," Jen frowned.

"Get used to it, hun, he calls everyone by nicknames," Reiki snickered behind his hand, "Except me and TNT, that is."

"Who's TNT?" Jen asked.

Mu cradled his forehead in his hand at that question, "My crazy, weird, clingy, pyro roommate."

"Pyro?" Jen was growing more concerned with these people by the second.

"He's the reason my apartment doesn't have a stove anymore. And the reason I've reinforced my own room with steel," Mu groaned at the memory of his hyper "friend".

"Anymore? What happened to the stove?" Jen blinked.

"He decided he wanted to see if he could destroy a stove with one spark. That's also why he's missing half an eyebrow," Mu sighed.

"I'm just gonna go back to reading now," Jen nodded as she opened the book back up.

Mu chuckled quietly before he left her with a reminder of, "Be ready to work hard once you're released."

* * *

Jen uncertainly copied Mu's stance. Without warning Mu kicked her ankle and she fell. "You need to stand steadier than that! Earth is the element of stubbornness!" he barked.

Jen stood again and copied his stance. Her legs trembled from trying to keep her balanced.

"See, doesn't that feel a little more natural?" Mu asked with a voice that was almost sweet.

"I don't know! I feel like I'm about to fall over," Jen growled. This same conversation had been going on a looped route for the past hour. She had really only been released from the infirmary an hour ago as well.

Mu frowned at her as he studied her stance, "You look steady enough this time. How about we see if you can get the basics of bending down. Normally we'd take a week or two for you to work on your stance, then start working on your bending, but there isn't really an option here. Now, just try sliding your left leg forward. Focus on the rocks below your feet. See if you can move the ground at all. Maybe try to raise or lower a portion of it."

Jen frowned at the ground; her eyebrows were drawn together in a focused expression as she tried to slide her left leg forward and keep her foot facing in front of her. The ground in front of her shifted slightly. It raised maybe one centimeter but the floor was no longer flat.

"Well, good job. I didn't expect you to get it on the first try," Mu praised.

"Can I stand up now? My leg is cramping really bad," Jen fidgeted slightly.

"Sure," Mu shrugged.

Jen stood up and pressed her weight into her cramping leg until the sharp twinges of pain left only a dull ache behind.

"Now, do it again," Mu commanded.

"If I got it right why do I have to do it again?" Jen growled.

"Do you want to pass that stupid test?! I think I preferred you when you hardly spoke at all," Mu glared.

Jen glared at him indignantly as she took that stance again. She was a little more steady this time. She slid her leg forward and kept her foot facing forward. The ground raised slightly quicker. It also raised higher.

"Better, now try again," Mu commanded. He was leaning against the wall a few feet away with his arms crossed.

Jen frowned as she took up the stance again. She slid her leg forward again. There were even more impressive results, _again_.

"Now, try with the other leg," Mu commanded.

Training continued like that for a few hours, and by the time the third day was up Jen was ready for the test.

"Now just remember, Jenny, focus on even the smallest amounts of earth within the rock for your test," Mu advised as Jen stood in front of the oddly colored stone on the ground in front of her.

"If you can move that in under a minute, you pass," Nick stated simply.

Jen blinked at the rock. She took her stance and slid her foot towards the rock. Something felt off about it and it didn't move. She thought about Mu's last second advice. She exhaled and closed her eyes, sliding her foot toward the rock.

"You did it! Good job, Jenny," a hand clapped her on the back in a congratulatory fashion.

She blinked open her eyes, "I did?"

The rock in front of her sat, pulled and distorted out of shape into an odd splattered shape.

"Good job. You have some potential as a metal bender," Nick looked unamused. He never liked when his authority was crossed, even fairly as in this case.

"I'm gonna show her around the city, you're free to join us, teacher," tension practically crackled in the air between the two.

"I'm going back to my office, student," Nick spoke with such venom in his voice that it made Mu's heart ache. He missed the days when they would jokingly fight and insult.

Mu glared after the older bender as he left.

"Uhm, what was that about?" Jen asked quietly.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Mu answered as he turned and walked away, "Ready to go see the rest of the city?"

"Sure," Jen nodded. She had been truly impressed the first time she had seen the city.

"Would you rather see the main level, the shopping level, or this, the training level, first?" Mu asked, his mood taking a quick change to pride.

"Since we're here, the training level," Jen smiled.

* * *

A/N: Imma go ahead and leave that there :) Thanks so much for reading! :D I would really love to know what you all think, and I'd love to hear from y'all.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK.

* * *

Chapter 3

Mu smiled like a proud father as he went on and on about the various tunnels of the training center, "The most important part of the city is this way."

Jen followed him down a sloping tunnel to a wide cave. A heavy, metal trapdoor sat on the floor of the cave, "What is it?"

"This is the entrance to the emergency shelter. If there's ever the threat of catchers getting in then we bring everyone here and wait for the threat to pass," Mu answered, "I want you to memorize the route here as soon as you can."

"Is the entire city this impressive?" Jen asked as she studied the seemingly seamless door. It looked as if it were just a bit of metal paneling unless it was inspected closely.

"That's about all of the training level you need to know for now. Do you wanna go check out the upper levels?" Mu questioned as he led her to the ladder that led from the top levels to here.

"Oh, sure. You said the city level and the shopping level, right?" Jen asked.

"Yes! Good memory. We'll be looking at the city and the upper shopping. Then the lower shopping level," Mu praised as he began climbing the ladder.

"There are two shopping levels?" Jen tipped her head to the side slightly as she climbed up the ladder beneath him.

"Yeah, we have so many restaurants and stores that we needed more space for the shops, and for their owners to live there too. Most of the stores are owned by two or three people and open twenty-four hours. We don't really have day or night here, so it would be hard for shops to have set hours. In fact, there's only one clock in the city that's 'correct' time," Mu answered. They had reached the top of the ladder. Mu pulled himself from the ladder's tunnel onto the even ground and helped Jen up. He began walking towards the circular set-up of shabby buildings. Jen had only briefly passed through the area, "This is where most of the demolition and rescue team members live. A few live in the shop areas with close friends or boyfriends, but the rest live up here. As you can see we'll build with just about anything. A good deal of these buildings are made with the first level being earth-bent stone and the second plaster, brick, wood, or other bits of junk we can find. You see those bridges up there," Mu paused for her to look up and nod, "There are also houses built into the walls up there. There are stair-cases that lead up there and they travel by bridge. You'll be living in the women's apartment, but we'll have to clean it first so you're welcome to stay at my apartment or in the infirmary until then. Those are over there, that door at the top of the stairs that lead from the tunnel into the city. Those apartments are a little bit quiet and very nice. They were the second building we built when we built the city. That tall building in the center is the offices where Nick and a few of the other initial creators of the city work and plan. We also have a few from the rescue team working there. Over there is a danger sign, do you see it?" he paused again, "Never, NEVER, go near that door. That leads down to the power plants and the workers down there aren't generally fond of us. I also never want you to go down there without someone going with you and permission from Nick, myself, Rusty, Rosy, or Cais."

"Yes sir," Jen nodded.

"Good. Now are you ready to go look at the shopping levels?" Mu grinned.

"Alright," Jen nodded.

"You're just going to love them," Mu grinned, "That reminds me, we need to get you some new clothes. Those are pretty torn up."

"Oh, I need to return your coat," Jen said sheepishly.

"Keep it, I've got another," Mu shook his head. _I just want those memories to go away. I want to stop missing her, but life just wants me to remember I guess._

"Are you sure?" Jen asked.

"Positive," Mu answered with a frown.

Jen followed him silently to a small split in the wall. He walked down the briefly dark passage into a much brighter area with raised platforms of earth extending from the walls and balanced on pillars. Many shops were built into the walls and dark halls led into the tall, steep walls. There were bare patches of dirt that stood as a road. Shabby, two story buildings with large signs and displays showing their goods. People moved from area to area with small smiles as they stopped to talk with old friends and bargain. Smalls restaurants had clusters of table outside and inside with two or three people moving between tables with over-crowded trays of food. At a few of the tables multiple people sat and talked, some were even flirting and kissing. Other tables held only one or two occupants who almost completely ignored the other for their food or a book. Some people had small pets, perched on shoulders or running near their feet. A few people rode bikes with large boxes strapped to them and called for the path to be cleared.

"This is the first shopping level. This is where most of the restaurants are. There's a few clothing shops and such, but most of the actual stores are below," Mu explained as he pulled Jen out of the way of a bike by the crook of her elbow.

Jen swayed for an unnaturally long time to regain her balance. She blinked a few times and shook her head.

"Hey, you okay?" Mu asked; leaning down enough to lift her chin and observe her expression a little closer.

"Yeah, being moved so suddenly just made me dizzy," she assured. She still felt sore and unwell from her injuries and near death just days before.

"If you say so. I guess that's kinda normal," Mu shrugged as he walked on. He continued talking about the different shop owners. He himself knew quite a few of them. He had often asked them for little favors like a coat and clothes for a new citizen, or a little bit of free food for a rescue job when Thyme had been sick. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed Jen was leaning unsteadily against a pillar of rock. As he was walking back she collapsed weakly without so much as a yelp of surprise when she hit the ground.

He covered the ground to her in three strides and crouched beside her. He felt her head.

"Idiot, pretending you felt fine," Mu shook his head as he picked her up and began walking back towards the infirmary. He walked in and left her on the bed nearest the door. He walked down to the back of the building and glanced around the last bed to see Reiki fast asleep on the small, thin mattress he slept on. Blankets were piled high and nearly hid the dark brown hair of the young healer. "Reiki, wake up bro."

Reiki groaned quietly and glared over his shoulder with icy blue eyes, "What do you want?"

"Jen's got a fever," Mu said.

Reiki sat up and rubbed at his eyes. When he was woken from a deep sleep he could have the temper of a platypus-bear with a thorn in it's paw, "Is it bad? Or could you not tell?"

"It's not gonna kill her probably, but I didn't wanna risk her getting bad since she just got released a few days ago," Mu explained.

"Alright, I'll look her over and see what's wrong. Also, do you know where TNT ran off to?" Reiki asked as he walked over to the storage shelf along the same wall between the two rows of beds. He rummaged around for a moment before he found the thermometer. He had been lucky enough to have a friend who was a shopkeeper. Said friend had just happened to end up near a drugstore and swiped a thermometer. Reiki walked over and ran the thermometer across Jen's forehead. He looked at the small screen and smiled slightly, "She'll be just fine. It's just one hundred degrees. I think her body is just trying to adjust to all of these environmental and lifestyle changes she's made so quickly. She might also have a cold. When she wakes up I'll give her some cold medicine and make sure she rests for a few more days. While she's recovering you and the rest of your team, maybe TNT if he's feeling up to it, can clean out her apartment."

"Is something wrong with TNT?" Mu asked.

"The idiot slipped while trying to fix a roof, and before the others could even get him here he ran off! I'm afraid he might have a concussion and I know he has a sprained wrist and ankle. Honestly I hate it when this happens. I mean I love that it gives me a chance to spend more time with him; I don't normally get to since I can hardly leave this place incase of an emergency. I just wish he didn't sneak out all the time. I guess I can understand his hate of this place, after what happened here to his mom and sister, but still! It drives me crazy when he does this! I've got Hien out looking for him, poor thing," Reiki explained nearly shouting in frustration at times.

"Have you and TNT been fighting recently?" Mu raised an eyebrow in question.

"No, but he's just been a little too hyper recently. I really miss when we had more healers and I could leave here to spend time with him. Back when we could run around the shopping district and eat and stuff," Reiki sat down heavily on the foot of one of the beds.

"We'll find another healer soon, I promise," Mu assured. It had been hard on Reiki the day that the other five healers of the city had died. Mu found it hard to believe that had been almost three years ago.

"Too bad Jen isn't a water-bender," Reiki chuckled. There were plenty of other water-benders in the city but none had the skill to become healers.

"Well, we can't look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth," Reiki shrugged as he glanced at Jen, "She's pretty, y'know."

"She's beautiful. She looks just like Anise did. Especially like the last time I saw Anise. She's so pale and looks so weak. I can't get that image of Anise out of my head, Reiki," Mu raked his fingers through his own dark brown hair.

Reiki walked over to the younger man and ruffled his hair, "I'm sorry you've been pulled into this hellish lifestyle, Mu. I wish I could change that much. You used to be so gentle and kind, so naive to the horrible problems of this world. I miss the old Mu. I miss the old Alex. That was your birth name, am I correct?"

"We were rescued just three weeks apart, right? I remember because you were still so traumatized from being taken to an execution center. We comforted each other then, right? Yeah, I guess that was my name then," Mu said sadly.

"I hate that tradition, Mu. We should keep the names that our parents give us. We should try to remember them and everyone else from our time in the non-bender's world," Reiki frowned.

"That's where we disagree, friend. I love this tradition. It gives me an excuse to forget the names I associate with those I don't want to think about," Mu responded simply as he sat down on the foot of the bed across from Reiki.

"I don't think Alex would have ever said that. This city has changed you, Mu. So, so much," Reiki shook his head and ran a few fingers through his hair.

"I haven't been Alex for a long time, Reiki. What brought about this nostalgia?" Mu asked. He leaned forward and rested his chin in his hands and his elbows on his knees.

"I went to the graveyard," Reiki answered shortly, "A lot of those old names and pictures brought back memories I guess. I wish I could go back to those times again. More than anything."

"I certainly don't. I prefer living here, trapping as it may be. Living out in the open for all that time was just too hard on all of us," Mu reminded.

Jen opened her eyes slightly. At first she had wondered where she was, but she soon noticed that she was in one of the soft infirmary beds. Mu and Reiki were talking. She decided to leave her consciousness unknown to the two.

"We're all different, Mu. At least you get to leave. I can't even hardly leave this stupid building," Reiki sighed.

"Well, maybe by some miracle one of our benders will magically become a water-bender and come help you. Just hang in there for awhile longer and I promise that we'll get you some helpers," Mu assured yet again as he stood, "Give me a call when Jen wakes up. I'm going home for now, but I want to tell her about the city and the idea of changing her name," Mu said as he excused himself from the infirmary.

Reiki stood up and walked over to Jen to see how she was doing.

He noticed that she was blinking up at him.

"How long have you been awake?" he chuckled as he went to the storage shelf and rummaged around for a moment. He dug through a box of medicines, pulling out boxes and checking names and expiration dates. He threw a few of the small boxes of pills or bottles of liquid into a nearby trashcan. He finally found what he was searching for. It was a small box of gel-capsules. The small foil wrappers held two pills each and he opened a packet, picked up a cup from the shelf, filled it at the sink anchored into the wall beside the shelf, and took them to Jen, "Go ahead and take these. You seem to just have a bit of a cold right now. They'll make you drowsy, so I'm gonna go ahead and let you sleep some more before I call Mu back."

"Okay," Jen accepted the pills and water. She hardly needed the pills to fall asleep. She still couldn't shake the lingering exhaustion she had had since awakening in the city.

* * *

Nobuhide panted quietly as he brought a wall of stone up between him and TNT. He had gone to take TNT back to the infirmary to be healed; however, as soon as TNT saw him he attacked.

"I'm going to lower this wall, and you are going to come quietly with me to the infirmary. If you attack me I'm not afraid to go full force against you," Nobuhide panted as he wiped a small drip of blood from his nose. The stupid fire-bender had punched him in the face before he fled down the training level tunnels. He brought the wall down and rushed forward. He caught TNT in a tackle and pinned the taller, stronger male to the ground. He bent a ring of stone around him to hold his arms against his sides. He picked TNT up and began the long task of taking him to the infirmary. After about twenty minutes he had reached the top of the ladder with a struggling TNT. He carried the squirming man to the infirmary and dumped him rather harshly on the floor just inside.

"I'm gonna block the doors so I don't have to chase him down again, Reiki, okay?" Nobuhide didn't even wait for a response before he blocked the doors with a wall of stone.

"Alright, I'll heal you in just a second if you want to sit down," Reiki motioned to one of the many empty beds as he hauled TNT to his feet by hooking a hand in each armpit and dragging the fire-bender up, "Please stop running off like that TNT. I know you hate in here."

"I hate this place more than pain. I'd much rather be suffering with a little headache than have to come here," TNT stumbled slightly and didn't catch himself before he fell onto one of the beds.

"As soon as you're healed you can go back to work or your apartment," Reiki soothed quietly, planting a light kiss on TNT's cheek. After that he bent a trail of water from the sink faucet and let it form a small layer over his palms. He held them against TNT's head and smiled lightly as the expression of pain on the fire-bender's face eased. He then healed his wrist, which was already swelling and turning an unpleasant shade of green. Finally he healed his ankle and cut the stone away by filling the cracks with water and freezing it.

"Thanks," TNT muttered grudgingly.

"I'll try to stop by your apartment later to hang out, okay?" Reiki offered as TNT rose to leave.

"Maybe," TNT answered.

"You're not mad I had to drag you here, are you?" Reiki asked; he sounded almost desperate with that question.

"You didn't drag me here, he did," TNT directed an icy glare at Nobuhide with fiery eyes, "But next time if I don't want to be healed let me be, got it, _sweety_?" That nickname, often used so affectionately by the two for one another, was said with a trace of hatred.

Reiki just pouted indignantly. This happened a great deal, he realized, and it put a ridiculous strain on their relationship when it did happen. He needed to find time to be around TNT more. He turned his attention to Nobuhide, who at the very moment was pressing a bloody wad of tissues against his nose.

"Sorry, did I make him mad at you?" the question wasn't asked seriously nor kindly.

"Do you really want to anger the person who's about to heal your broken nose? I could heal it crookedly for you," Reiki glared.

"No sir," Nobuhide answered indignantly.

* * *

A/N: Thanks a big bunch for reading! :D I hope you enjoyed it and I'd appreciate reviews. I'm gonna aim for getting three reviews for this chapter before I post the next one. Which means, if you don't review there's a chance that three more people won't either. I really wanna hear what you all think, who's your favorite character, who do you want to know more about, do you see anything I could fix with my writing or have any questions I may have been vague on? Type to y'all later


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

* * *

Chapter 4

"You have to be extremely careful when you choose your career. If you can't handle the job, mentally _or _physically, then you'll be sent to the power plant without further thought. With that said, I have a few warnings about each job. Each of the three choices has an equal amount of risk, to _both _your physical and mental state. The demolition team has a very high risk of accident. It has the highest death rate of the three. With that job you will also be required to go to the power plants often, this- for you especially- could be a threat to your mental health. Becoming a shop owner means you'll have to leave to steal things to sell. If you've got a clean conscience I'm just gonna tell you it'll be hard for you. I've seen shop keepers sink to astonishing levels to get what they need and you'd have to do that if you chose them. Lastly is the rescue team. Honestly, I think you're strong enough physically and have a strong enough will for this, but we see some pretty disturbing stuff there. I'm not even gonna try to sugar coat it for you, people will die, people will beg to be killed, and you will more likely than not be the one to kill them. I never suggest any group lightly, but the rescue team will put you through hell again and again for the rest of your life," Mu explained. He was sitting on the foot of Jen's bed.

"How long will I have to chose?" Jen asked.

"The law states that you have to decide within one hour of the risks of each team being explained to you. Nick claims it'll keep you from thinking too hard on it, says newcomers will trust their gut with that little time," Mu answered blandly.

"I choose the rescue team," Jen answered. Her forced swallow showed her wish she hadn't spoken.

"Are you absolutely certain? There's no going back after this," Mu warned.

Jen exhaled slightly, "I'm positive. I want to save people the same way you all saved me."

"Welcome to the team, Jenny. I'm sure we're all gonna be excited to have you. I'll go tell Nick your choice so he can add it to the city records. Then I'll be back to explain a bit more and take you down to the training level to see if you've retained any of your skill," Mu opened his arms as if welcoming her.

He left, and returned five minutes later.

"Now, Reiki told me not to push you too hard, so as soon as you feel like you're ready to finish up training for the day I need you to tell me," Mu demanded.

"Okay," Jen nodded. They reached the ladder.

"Ladies first," Mu motioned for her to descend the ladder first. They went to a familiar cave of the training area. This was where they had started Jen's training, "Now, do you remember the stance we worked on?"

Jen confirmed with a nod as she sank into the stance.

"Now, I want you to try to move this rock," he raised a large stone from the ground and stood back to watch.

Jen did the usual motions she had been taught. She furrowed her brow as the rock did nothing.

"I was afraid this might happen," Mu explained, "I guess you were just so desperate to live up here you managed to bend from your instincts. This happens sometimes. Just give it some time and more hard work. Why don't we work on your stance for awhile?"

Jen's expression was one of deep concentration as she continued to take up a steady, wide-legged stance and tried to keep balanced.

* * *

Mu made his ways up the stairs to one of the middle floors of the building Nick's office was in. He knocked on the door.

He was answered with a quiet, startled snore and a drowsy, "Who's it?"

"The person who can get you kicked off of your team if you keep sleeping on the job," Mu answered in good humor. He opened the door.

"Sorry. Nobuhide asked me to work his shift for him, and that started eighteen hours ago," the boy who answered had pale grey eyes.

"It's fine, Hien. Just try to be more careful with your shifts. Nobu loves taking advantage of those kind enough to take his shift and their own," Mu advised, "Any new reports?"

"Yeah, we've got a girl from a city where the Fire Nation used to be. Actually around the area where that new bender came from. Her name is Hazel. She's about five foot and has brown hair with blue streaks dyed in. She's got a tan complexion, and plenty of freckles. Her eyes are quiet an oddity, though. They're a beautiful golden color. The reports say she's a water-bender. The only problem is that she's running in the opposite direction of this place," Hien reported.

"Stupid westernized names. Ever since The United Republic spread they've been everywhere," Mu wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Oh well. Was there not a picture?"

"Sorry but there wasn't a picture. I looked through all of the news reports I could find. You'll just have to go on what I've managed to find," Hien shrugged.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow. I assume you'll be staying here?" Mu asked as he turned towards the door.

"I won't be much help with my arm, Mu. I'd love to go but I'd just get in the way in fights," Hien smiled slightly. He missed the days of going out with the rest of the team. He would never let Nick catch him complaining, though. He was lucky to catch this job and not be sent to the power plants after he'd had part of his spinal column damaged and developed slow reflexes in his left arm and leg.

"Maybe one of these days you'll feel like working at improving your mobility again. I'll come by for more information on the report tomorrow," Mu waved as he left. He was about to head towards the infirmary when he remembered that Jen had moved into the women's apartments. It had been four days since she had fallen ill. It had only taken a few hours for her to recover almost completely from the cold. He had long since explained more about the three jobs of the city and the opportunity to change her name. She had chose to keep her name. He walked up the wide stairs that led up to a long platform that had a doorway at each end and a tunnel at the opposite. He walked to the doorway farthest from the tunnel. It led to a slightly open area where a three story building was built into the wall. He knocked on the door.

Jen opened the door and looked up at him, "Hey, whatcha doing here?"

"Seeing if my newest team member is ready for her first rescue job. We're leaving tomorrow. I'll give you a thirty minute warning call. You'll need to bring your jacket, I'll pack a bag of supplies for you," Mu instructed, "We'll meet at the door out of the city. Any questions?"

"About how long will we be gone?" Jen asked.

"I've got no clue, honestly. We usually don't know until we get back," Mu chuckled, "Since you're not very good as a bender yet you'll mostly be observing, does that sound okay?"

Jen nodded.

"See you tomorrow then, Jenny," Mu ruffled her hair and left.

Jen turned around and closed the door behind her. She walked back to the couch where she had been before Mu had come; she picked up a book and started reading it. She constantly borrowed books from Reiki's personal library by now. To her it hardly seemed like she'd been in the city for over two weeks. Of course most of the first week was either spent unconscious or training non-stop. As she read longer her eyes began to get heavy. Her head lolled towards the back of the couch and her eyes finally closed. The book fell out of her relaxed hands and rested, still open, on her breast.

* * *

Jen's cellphone, something every new member of the city gets after choosing their team, rang loudly. She startled awake and dug through her pocket for the small flip-phone. Mu's name came up on the caller ID. As soon as he'd given her the phone he entered the numbers and names off all of the members of his part of the rescue team.

"This is your thirty minute warning! The only think you'll need to bring is your coat and one change of clothes incase yours get torn up or wet. I packed everything else for you," Mu didn't wait for a "hello" before he spoke.

"Okay. I'll be at the door in twenty minutes," Jen estimated she would get there early. At first she had found the idea of wearing the same outfit for days on end to be disgusting, but Mu had explained that they didn't have the resources to let people have more than one or two outfits. She didn't take long to adjust to the concept; she really wanted a new change of clothes though. She went and got her only other change of clothes. It was a simple long-sleeve shirt. It was made of thick fabric and had elastic cuffs at the ends of the sleeves to keep them down on her arms. The fabric was also very rough and blood red. Her current shirt was a thin, girl-cut t-shirt. It had a low v-neck and was made of soft green fabric. The first of the two pairs of pants were what she assumed were once a very nice pair of dress slacks for a girl, but they had thread-bare patches and stains all over them. The second pair were old jeans; they fit her snuggly. She folded the jeans and the long sleeved shirt and tucked them under her arm. She pulled on her coat and buttoned it. It was more of a jacket than a coat, but in this city if it had sleeves and went over a shirt it was considered a coat. She walked out of her apartment, making sure to turn off the light, and walked out of the small cavern where the building was located. She walked across the raised area of stone that led from the women's apartments to the passage out of the city. There were already a few people there. She hadn't met many people in the city yet. She didn't recognize any of the people there.

"Hey Jen! You've really joined the rescue team?" Cais asked with bright eyes.

"Hi, uh, yeah. Would you all mind if I asked your names?" Jen asked nervously.

"Oh, of course. My name is Cais, it's nice to meet you," he smiled.

"I'm Rusty, pleasure to meet you Jen," he held out a hand to shake.

Jen shook his hand and smiled uncertainly.

"I'm Rosy," the other, who was identical to Rusty, introduced.

"My name is Akio," a young man of about twenty-two smiled. His hair was a sandy blonde color that looked odd against his naturally tan skin. His eyes were a chocolatey brown color.

"I'm Ryoichi," the last of the group offered his hand as well. He was short and stocky with startlingly pale skin and just as pale hair. His eyes were a glacial blue that was a similar color to frosty chilled water.

"It's nice to meet you all," Jen smiled.

"Man, you need to get out of your apartment more when we're actually here! You'll never make any friends that way," Akio said.

"Akio, you'll scare her if you act like that all the time," Rosy elbowed the older man in the ribs.

"Looks like we'll be leaving early," Mu announced as he approached.

"What about Nobu?" Rusty asked.

"Nick wanted him to stay behind this time. I'm not sure why but he wanted his help on something or other," Mu waved off their concern, "Now, we need to get moving! The girl we're trying to catch is going in the opposite direction, and she's from the same city Jen is from so we'll probably be gone awhile."

"We have to go all the way past that place?" Ryoichi looked startled, "How will we make it in time?"

"We'll just have to hurry; we won't accomplish anything if we just stand here all day. Come on," Mu turned and walked down the passage.

The earth-bender at the door waved them off as he moved the stone outside the door and watched them go. Once they were all out he closed the stone back up again and locked the door.

"It stopped snowing, good," Rusty sighed happily. The group stopped before leaving the shadow of the mountain and looked around. There was no one around. Without another word they ran to the trees that stood nearly a mile away. None of them slowed down until they had reached the trees.

"Alright, Jen. We'll be moving as quickly and quietly as possible. Follow us and you'll be fine," Mu smiled at her.

* * *

A/N: I'm gonna cut the chapter off there, I know it's a few hundred words shorter than usual, sorry :( I'll try to make the next longer but I just felt this was an appropriate place to leave this at.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

A/N: I'm just gonna warn you all, later in this chapter is a tiny bit descriptive of wounds and blood so if that bothers you you might want skip it, or stop reading. It will get worse next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 5

"Alright guys, we're stopping for a break," Mu whispered. None of the others were more than a little out of breath except Jen. Jen was doubled over gasping for air.

"Is the new girl alright?" Akio whispered. They had to keep their voices low in case they had ended up close to a catcher's camp.

"I'm fine. I'm just not used to running recently. The cold's hurting I guess," Jen managed to choke out as she doubled over even more; trying her best to catch her breath quickly.

Ryoichi glanced at her momentarily, "We should have given her longer to recover. She shouldn't have come."

"She won't recover if we coddle her forever," Mu chuckled, "Hurry up and eat while we've stopped. Drink a little something too, and if you need to go to the bathroom there's adequate bush cover over there." He walked over to Jen and crouched next to her, "Will you be alright Jenny?"

"Yeah, I just need a second to catch my breath. Sorry if I'm slowing you down," Jen panted.

"It's fine. We move pretty quickly; especially for someone who's only been out of the hospital for a week," Mu smiled and ruffled her hair, "You're keeping up far better than most newbs do on their _third_ trip. Be proud of yourself. Rest. We'll be leaving in twenty minutes. Is that long enough for you to catch your breath and eat?"

"That'll be enough time," Jen smiled and nodded. Soon she shakily took out one of the sandwiches that had been packed. They were made with dried meat and cheese that was so old she was sure it wouldn't grow any more harmful mold than it already had.

"Sorry if I sounded a little rude earlier," Ryoichi muttered as Akio urged him to apologize with a solid elbow in the ribs.

"It's fine. I know I'm drawing everyone down," Jen waved it away, "I've always dragged everyone around me down so I'm used to getting that."

"Stop being so hard on yourself. We haven't had to slow our pace for you at all," Cais assured. Everyone was still keeping their voices low.

"Sorry, it's a habit," Jen chuckled. She had finished her sandwich and drank half of one of the bottles of water she had.

"I wonder how long it'll take us to catch up to Hazel," Rusty- Jen was almost sure it was Rusty because he was the one with the scarf. Or was that Rosy? She couldn't remember- but one of the twins spoke.

"Probably awhile," Mu answered, "I'd say it'll take us a full week to reach the city she left from. After that I have no clue how long it'll take us to find her, let alone catch up to her."

"Then it'll take at least another week to get back home. I hope that kid's in good shape when we get to her," Ryoichi shook his head. This movement caused his pale bangs to sway against his forehead.

"She will be," Cais assured.

_I wonder how many people he's seen die. This kid doesn't deserve this, _Mu thought as he silently drew a circle in the snow with his numb fingers.

"Time's up. We should get moving," Rosy whispered as he stood up and secured his backpack.

Mu stood and nodded.

Jen stood a little hesitantly as if she weren't ready to run again, but she made it to her feet and stood waiting to follow.

"Follow," Mu said to the others. This was all the command they needed before they charged after him in the cover of the trees.

They moved almost silently. They all seemed like well adapted wolves, and to Jen her own footsteps sounded like she was running across brittle leaves. Their pace didn't slow. Jen's breathing began to grow ragged again. Her chest burned with every breath she took after about twenty minutes of their set pace. She refused to let herself slow down, though, and she kept up well. She was genuinely surprised when she noticed the sun was setting. They were still in the rather dense pine forest that divided the mountains from the rest of the world to the south.

"Gather firewood. Make sure it's dry. I'll clear some snow; we can start a fire and then sleep," Mu commanded as he began bending the snowy ground away from a layer of dry rock beneath. The layer of dirt he had removed was solid ice, "Go ahead and get to sleep, Jen."

"Are you sure?" Jen asked. She didn't think she would be able to offer much help; she was too tired. She still felt bad about sitting out while everyone else did work.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Cais'll probably decide to hit the hay as soon as he brings one load of kindling," Mu assured.

Jen nodded and laid down. Her coat offered little protection against the cold that seeped through but she knew that no one brought blankets or anything to sleep on. They had to be able to leave no trace of their stay in very little time. Mu had been sure to explain this all to her. Her muscles unintentionally shook and her teeth chattered. She curled tightly into a ball. She was deeply surprised when warmth spread across her back and shoulders. Someone was hugging her. It was warm. She didn't really mind it as much as she should have.

* * *

_My legs hurt! Why did this happen? What did I ever do?! _a young woman thought as she ran. For the first time in her life she wished her hair wasn't dyed blue; she wished her eyes weren't such an unusual color. If only she could look more unnoticeable. If only she had brown or amber eyes. Her foot caught on a tree root and she tripped forward. Her chin collided painfully with the ground and drove her teeth into her tongue. Blood gushed through her mouth from the delicate, muscular organ. She whimpered as she forced herself back to her feet. For some of the benders she'd seen brought through her home town on their way to execution camps she knew she was in good condition. If only she could last longer, _That's right. 'If only!' If only I weren't a bender!_

"The brat got away again. **** it!" a catcher spit right next to where the girl's foot had been a second before.

She prayed that they wouldn't see her tucked away under the large roots of the swamp tree.

The catchers left. The girl quietly dabbed at her tongue with a clean scrap of fabric from her jacket. She didn't need it here, so she had taken to using it for a blanket and for catching fish when she could. Her water-bending was nowhere near good enough to catch fish. She laid her head against the root next to her. She allowed herself a moment of quiet sleep.

* * *

Jen tried not to let the familiarity of the town bother her. It was her home. She was so close, but she knew she could never return home safely. They had gotten there quicker than Mu had predicted. They had only spent five days arriving to the town.

"Alright, we need to be especially careful here. Many of us are known by face as wanted criminals so it's crucial we don't get spotted," Mu announced.

"How does it feel to be so close to home, newb?" Akio asked jokingly.

Jen ignored him. She wondered how her parents were doing. How her younger siblings were doing. She was going to miss her friends. Well, most of her friends. She would never miss the friend who had single handedly ruined her life. She still remembered all to well the devious expression on the other girl's face when Jen accidentally bent up a rock. The girl was a catcher's daughter, her and Jen had been friends for most of their lives. Thinking of _her, _Miach, made Jen's blood boil to an unreasonable level.

"Hey Jen, you alright?" Cais tugged gently on her sleeve.

"Fine, just thinking about home," Jen assured.

Cais hesitated before speaking again and when he did it was an even quieter whisper, "You looked upset. Did something bad happen at your home?"

"One of my best friends turned me in when she found out I was a bender. I was just thinking about her," Jen sighed.

"What's living in the non-bender world like?" Cais asked.

"What? Didn't you used to live out here as well?" Jen asked.

Cais shook his head, "When they found out my sister was a bender my mom left with her. When she was pregnant with me. I was born just a week after the city was completed. I guess I do look a few years older than I really am; I can see why you thought I had spent some time out here."

"How old are you?" Jen asked.

"Thirteen," Cais answered.

"Wow, I thought you were about sixteen," Jen's eyes widened.

"Everyone does, when we first meet," Cais giggled. His face didn't have the babyish appearance that was expected of a thirteen year old. It had lost the small amount of roundness that a tween's face had, "So how is living in the non-bending world different than the mountain?"

"Well, there's sunlight, for one thing. Cars-"

"I've read books about cars before. And I've seen some from afar. Are they really loud to be in?" Cais asked.

"You get used to the sound. We have a lot more girls and younger children and older people. There are playgrounds for little kids and amusement parks for everyone. It's not always as crowded. Houses out here are generally more sturdy and stores have a lot more stuff in them," Jen listed, "There are a lot of differences I'm not sure how to explain."

"I wonder what playing with other kids my age would have been like," Cais smiled.

"We're gonna run again now. I feel we're far enough from the town to avoid drawing suspicion," Mu announced before running off at an astonishing pace.

The others followed. Jen was surprised at first by how quickly her body had adapted to the speed they went at from sun rise until sun set with one break. Her legs didn't ache as badly and breathing was easier when they slowed. Just past the city the ground around the old, cracked, asphalt road was very damp and swampy.

"The road cuts off ahead. It might be harder to keep up this pace," Jen warned. She used to drive to the end of this road just to watch the small swamp animals.

"How bad will the ground be? Worse to go through than snow?" Mu questioned.

"Much. You'll have to be careful not to let you legs or feet get stuck," Jen warned. She had been right. The bits of asphalt were much smaller and broken to rest much farther from one another. The ground practically swallowed their feet as they stepped off of the solid asphalt.

Cais lost his balance and pitched forward; if Jen hadn't caught the back of his shirt-collar he would have landed face first in the mud.

"Thanks," Cais thanked as he tried to regain his footing.

"Here, this might help you all," Jen sighed as she waded over to a tree and hauled herself up onto a branch. She snapped off four branches that created a rectangle just larger than Cais's foot. She stuck them together with sap leaking from a small break in the tree's bark and the began doing the same with smaller twigs. She created two small platforms like this and tossed them down to Cais, "Try sticking your feet to those with sap. See how that works."

"It's like a snow shoe, huh," Akio sounded impressed by how resourceful Jen was.

"Yeah, my friend and I used to come out here a lot when we were really little and we just came up with this one day when she lost her shoe in the mud," Jen beamed. She hadn't smiled that genuinely since she'd been discovered as a bender. She tried not to think about which friend that had been, though.

"Well, this should make things quicker," Mu nodded his approval.

Soon they all had mud shoes.

"Hey, I just heard someone talking over here!" someone called.

They all stopped dead.

"Run," a quiet voice whispered from the roots of a tree near them. A girl with golden eyes and blue-stripped hair whispered urgently, "Catchers!"

Mu glanced in the direction of the voices. He glanced at Cais, Rusty, and Ryoichi. He mouthed, "Take care of them and catch up."

The three nodded and silently left in the direction of the catchers.

"Who are you?" the girl asked shakily.

Mu crouched cautiously in front of her and put on his best comforting smile, "We're from the City of Benders. We've come to take you to your new home."

"You mean I won't have to run from them forever?" she asked. Her eyes glimmered with grateful tears, "I'm not gonna die soon."

"You'll be safe, in the City. It will take us awhile to get there though," Mu assured with a smile.

"What about those catchers?" the girl glanced in the direction where they had been.

"Me and my friends are trained to fight catchers. They'll incapacitate them and then catch up with us. Can you stand?" Mu offered his hand to her as he stood.

The girl stood unsteadily. She looked mildly dehydrated.

"Your name is Hazel, yes?" Mu asked as he carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders to help her stand.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Hazel asked suspiciously.

"We find benders in distress like you by looking at wanted bender reports. It says your name there," Mu ruffled her hair.

"W-watch out!" Jen called.

A catcher had strayed from the group that was fighting Cais, Rusty, and Ryoichi. He held a bow up, but it no longer had an arrow knocked.

Hazel gasped in pain; her voice squeaked as she slumped against Mu. An arrow was imbedded in the right side of her lower back.

Jen raised the ground beneath the catcher and sent him through the branches of the trees. They could only hear him come back down somewhere far off.

"Get her back to the road. Be careful not to disrupt that arrow no matter what," Mu slung Hazel's arm over Jen's shoulder before he ran to where Cais, Rusty, and Ryoichi were fighting. Rosy and Akio followed close behind him.

Jen did as she was told and carefully moved Hazel to the broken road. She sat the girl down carefully and laid her on her side.

"It hurts," the water-bender whimpered.

"I know. Arrows hurt really bad. But don't worry. We'll get you back to the City in no time and get that taken care of. You'll be okay," Jen soothed quietly as she brushed Hazel's hair back and out of her face. Jen let the side of her hand linger where Hazel's jaw met her neck. Her pulse was insanely fast and increasing with the second. The arrow was no doubt coated in one of the more fatal venoms, "You'll be alright."

* * *

Cais blasted one of the catchers back with a billow of fire towards their abdomen. The catcher fell into the mud and let out a startled cry as she was trapped from standing up.

Rusty and Rosy both sent another catcher back against a tree with their fire-bending. He hit his head against the tree trunk and fell to the ground.

"A catcher shot Hazel," Mu called before he darted after a group of three catchers who were trying to get away.

Cais stood and ran off in the direction Mu had come from.

"Cais, over here!" Jen called when Cais reached the edge of the trees near the road.

Cais ran over and slung his backpack off of his shoulders He already had his backpack open when he reached them. He was searching for something. He pulled out a first aid kit and a knife, "Alright, Hazel I'm just gonna cut the fabric away from the wound so I can get a better look at it. I'm not gonna cut you I promise."

Hazel nodded and whimpered slightly. She looked terrified.

"Now just hold still. That's good," Cais cooed as he cut the fabric of her shirt away from the wound. The arrow hadn't gone very deep, "I'm going to pour some saline over the wound. It may hurt, I'm sorry."

Hazel yelped in pain as the cold liquid gushed into the wound.

"What are we gonna do?" Jen asked quietly, "I think there may have been venom on that arrow. Her pulse is picking up rapidly and I don't think it's from blood loss."

"I'm going to cut the arrow out and check the internal damage. I know that she may bleed to death but that's a far better option than leaving that thing in there, especially if it might have venom on it," Cais answered quietly, "Hazel, I'm going to cut around the wound now. Just talk to Jen, try to ignore it sweety."

"How long did you live in that city over there?" Jen asked sweetly.

"F-four years," Hazel swallowed hard as she felt the blade cut around the wound just a tiny bit. It stung and made her want to move away from the blade.

"Four years, huh? What school did you go to?" Jen let Hazel squeeze her hand as Cais carefully cut the arrowhead free.

"Zuko High," Hazel answered through clenched teeth.

"I went there. What grade were you in?" Jen used her other hand to pet the side of Hazel's head in a soft, calming manner.

"I was a freshman," Hazel answered.

"What kinds of classes were you taking?" Jen asked.

"Regul-ow!" Hazel bit her tongue to silence the pained scream that tried to escape her lips as Cais finally removed the arrow.

Cais's expression darkened as he inspected the damage left by the arrow.

"It hurts!" Hazel suddenly screamed; she sounded as if the pain had rushed back in one giant wave. As if it hurt even more.

"I know what mix of venoms they used. Hazel, I'm so sorry," Cais whispered. The wound wasn't bleeding like it should. The little blood that oozed out was congealed. Along with the sudden pain he knew it had some platypus-bear venom on it. The congealed blood hinted at rattle-viper, "I'm so, so sorry."

"Am I dying?" Hazel asked through ragged gasps of pain and gritted teeth.

Cais's lip trembled as he spoke, "Yes. I don't have the anti-venom to save you. I'm so sorry."

"Will it hurt worse than this?" Hazel asked quietly as she writhed about slightly.

"Yes. That pain will get much worse," Cais had walked around to crouch near her head.

"I don't wanna suffer like this," Hazel whispered.

"If it would help you, we could end your life quickly. Do you wish it?" Cais asked.

* * *

A/N: Okay, haha, please don't hate me y'all. Thanks a bunch for reading, reviews are appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

A/N: In case you didn't read the previous warning, this chapter may be sorta bloody and graphic, it has a lot of mention of death and similar things so I do ask that if that is something you are uncomfortable reading about that you stop reading now.

* * *

Chapter 6

"Please just make it stop hurting. I don't care how," Hazel whimpered pathetically. Tears stained and glimmered on her face. Her lip trembled with an attempt not to sob out of fear and pain.

"Hold on just a moment," Cais murmured sadly. He reached to his belt and pulled his knife free. He handed it to Jen, "When I tell you to, please slit her throat."

Jen looked like a deer-elk in headlights as she took the knife. She was chewing nervously on her lower lip and stripping the skin off with her teeth.

"Hey Hazel, watch this," Cais smiled sweetly as he held his hand in the air and multi-colored fire rose from his palm. It formed shapes and moved; it looked alive. It formed the shapes of animals. It created sweet birds that flew higher and higher until their flames faded out. He created orbs of blue fire and green fire, of red fire and pale yellow fire. It created a lion that stood proudly, "Okay Jen."

Jen's hand trembled on the knife as she drew it forcefully and quickly across Hazel's throat just under where her jaw and neck met.

"Thank you for not letting me suffer more," Hazel mouthed as blood filled her mouth and dripped from her neck. She wouldn't be able to even speak a last word because her trachea was split.

Jen had to look away.

Cais sobbed. His features contorted in mental suffering as he wailed. Tears ran quickly from his eyes and soaked his cheeks; they left splotchy red marks in their path. He always had to watch people die! He cursed his odd fire-bending sometimes. No one had ever tried to console or comfort him at times like these, and for the first time he felt a gentle, warm hand on his shoulder.

"Cais, it's what she needed. I wish it could have been different but there was no choice," Jen whispered and gently pulled him into a hug. _No one should have to suffer through this, especially not someone his age. Poor thing, poor poor thing, _Jen thought as she stroked his hair and whispered quiet words of comfort as he sobbed onto her shoulder.

"I can always make someone smile before they die, but I can never save anyone from death! I hate being this powerless. Why can't my bending be normal, why can't I just turn the other way and pretend that people aren't dying. Why do I always have to help?" Cais bawled.

"Cais, someone like me will only ever be able to kill people; you're special because you can make them forget their pain, forget that they're dying. Those flames were amazing, and Hazel was smiling at them. Just a second before that she'd been writhing in pain and begging for death and you made her smile. She looked just like a little kid watching a magic show, and I know that she was happy in those last few seconds," Jen murmured. She rested her chin atop Cais's head and rubbed soothing circled across his shoulders as his sobs quieted, "Do you want me to dig her a grave? Is that something you all do?"

Cais nodded against her shoulder, "Mu will put a marker there, but if you can bury her I think they'd appreciate it."

"Okay," Jen said quietly as she moved back and stood up. She took an earth-bending stance and lifted a large amount of sodden dirt from the ground. She had created a perfect rectangle that was about six feet deep, three feet wide, and five feet long. She lowered Hazel's lifeless, bloodied body into the hole. She herself climbed out of the hole and then bent the soil back into the hole.

Cais had managed to stop crying by that point. He looked exhausted.

"What happened, Cais?" Mu called as he ran over with the others close behind.

"Hazel's dead," Cais answered.

Mu glanced at the blood on Jen's hands and paled. The last thing he had wanted was for someone so new to their lifestyle to have to kill someone, "How bad was it?"

"Venom, lots of venom. I think it was rattle-viper venom mixed with platypus-bear venom. Her blood was coagulating, all of it was, and she was in a lot of pain," Cais answered.

"I'll mark her grave," Mu picked up a chunk of asphalt from the road and pulled his knife out. He carved in deeply the words: "Hazel, water-bender MURDERED by catchers. R.I.P."

_That's a lie. She was murdered by me, _Jen thought bitterly.

Mu secured the stone into the dirt near the grave carefully before he stood up, "There's a small clearing without mud over there. We're going to camp there for the night."

"But it's hardly noon yet," Jen pointed out. Everything around her seemed muted; she almost felt numbed by what she had done.

"I think Cais needs a rest," Mu said.

"Mu, I'm fine. We should get back to the city sooner," Cais argued.

"We're camping here and that's final," Mu answered. The group followed him to the small clearing where they all settled in.

"Jen, I need to talk to you," Mu whispered to her, "Away from everyone else."

Jen just followed him. They walked away from the small spot of solid ground and climbed into a tree.

"Jen, I... I never thought you'd have to do that so soon. I didn't think you'd have to kill someone so soon. I'm so sorry, Jenny. I should have left one of the others with you so you could have just looked away. I need you to know, please listen," he paused until she looked back at him. She was trying desperately to hide her tears, "that it isn't always like this. Sometimes it gets bad, I know that, but it won't always end like this."

"Mu, the grave marker lied. I murdered her," Jen responded blankly; she stared at her own boot-clad feet that dangled off of the branch she was on.

"No, no you didn't Jenny. Never say you did," Mu's voice had lowered to a whisper as he gently pulled her into a hug.

"I was the one who killed her, what else should I call it?" Jen's shoulder's tensed and she acted as if she were about to pull back.

"You didn't kill her, Jen, you saved her. She would have died writhing and screaming if you hadn't done that," Mu assured, "One of the venoms they used, platypus-bear venom, is nearly unbearable. The pain is so bad you can't think straight and it doesn't go away quickly. It lasts for weeks and it doesn't let up."

"I slit her throat! I don't care what you want to call it I murdered her! I shouldn't be aloud to live-" a loud, ringing slap cut Jen off before she could finish.

Mu lowered his hand away from her reddening cheek, "Never say you don't deserve to live! Aren't aloud to live! Think about the people who died, Jen! Do you think they'd say that now?!" Mu no longer tried to keep his voice down. He was shouted loud enough that Jen was certain the others could hear all the way from their camp.

Jen swung down from the branch and walked back towards the camp. When she got back she laid down and stared at the sky. She should have eaten, but she couldn't bring herself to eat anything. She sat back up and walked to the edge of the solid ground. She plunged both of her hands into the mud and began scrubbing the blood off of them. She didn't care about the dirt under her nails or the mud caking her hands as she walked back to her spot and laid down. She began to dose off.

* * *

Mu quietly shook Jen's shoulder. They needed to get moving towards the city.

Jen lifted her head off of the ground slightly and opened her eyes. It was still dark outside. It would probably be hours until the sun rose even.

"We're leaving soon, time to get up," Mu whispered.

Jen glared at him but didn't go back to sleep. She had a bruise across her cheek because of him and she wasn't going to forgive him anytime soon, "I'm up."

"Mu, I feel bad," Rosy murmured when Mu went to wake him up. Rosy looked feverish.

Mu felt the fire-bender's forehead, "You've got a fever. I'll carry you today."

"Thanks," Rosy murmured. Mu knelt down for the fire-bender to climb onto his back.

"Alright, we're leaving now," Mu announced quietly.

They were about a mile from the other side of the city when Jen stopped dead. Her eyes widened as she watched a catcher spring from the bushes beside the old, long-forgotten path they were using.

"Hey, you're a pretty girly. Why're you traveling with people like them?" he asked with a rough laugh. He was pointing a gun at her.

"Mu, guys, run!" Jen cried.

Mu turned around. His eyes widened. It reminded him far too much of one of the worse times Anise had been threatened at gun point.

Rosy took this as his cue to squirm off of Mu's back and scamper to the trees. What he wasn't expecting was another catcher with a knife.

Akio looked around. They were surrounded by catchers. Jen was the only one outside of the circle.

"Now!" one of the catchers barked, "No one move! If anyone moves we'll attack, got that?"

They all stood stalk still.

"Girl, you have permission to move into the circle. That's right, now stop right there," another catcher grinned. He was holding a bow with a knocked arrow at the ready.

"I recognize this boy," the catcher with the gun smirked as he motioned towards Mu, "He's the one who'd been with that girl fire-bender a few years back. The one who left her behind."

Mu's lips pulled back in a slight snarl.

The gun-wielding catcher shot a warning shot next to Mu's foot, "Why so aggressive? Do you feel guilty for what you did?"

Mu's patience was wearing very, _very _thin.

Cais slowly grabbed Mu's wrist in a comforting manner. He was trying to calm their leader down before he could do something stupid.

"Now, you all have permission to move, so you can follow us. If you even look like you're going to try escaping we'll kill you," another catcher, this one with a series of blow-darts, commanded.

They were all careful to stay grouped together in the circle. Rosy was leaning a bit of his weight against Mu as he walked. Rosy was feeling light headed on and off as he moved.

Mu glanced around before leaning close to Rosy and whispering, "When you feel me move my arm, drop to the ground. Tell the others to do that when you drop."

Rosy passed the message.

Suddenly Mu jerked away; that was Rosy's cue. Mu raised a wall of stone between them and half of the catchers. He didn't have the time to raise another wall before he felt a gun pressed against his temple.

"Bad move, bend-" the catcher was cut off as a rock hit the base of her skull. Mu was nearly certain it had killed the woman. He would ask who had done that later but he had more important things to worry about. Though he was certain it had been Jen, from the exclamation of warning to him just before the catcher's death. He turned and shot the ground beneath a catcher high into the air. This threw the catcher away.

"Mu, duck!" Cais cried.

Mu was too slow and a bullet pierced the right side of his chest. He did his best to ignore it as he continued fighting the catchers. He had suffered worse injuries than that. He knocked out the last catcher. He looked down at his chest. He was bleeding more now that his pulse was racing.

"Rusty, Akio, catch him I think he's about to faint!" was the last thing Mu heard before his mind slipped into darkness.

* * *

"We should be good to stop here. Jen, go fill this bottle with water from that stream," Cais commanded. They were in an area where there was already a thin dusting of snow, even though it was only fall. After Mu had passed out they ran as fast and far as they could. It was about two in the afternoon when they finally stopped. They had made it far away from the city.

Mu's eyes drifted open slightly, "Where're we?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but we're much closer to the city than before," Cais assured.

"What happened?" Mu groaned in pain with each breath he took.

"You got shot," Cais said, "Okay, you know the drill. We're at least two days from the City and we don't want to risk leaving you with an open wound."

"You're gonna have to remove the bullet?" Mu asked.

"Yeah, sorry," Cais grimaced apologetically, "Alright, take off your shirt I don't want to get more blood on it."

Mu obeyed. He sat up and winced as he tugged his shirt off over his head and let it drop to the snow beside him. He laid back on the ground. The snow was icy cold against his back but he ignored it.

"You gonna have to stitch it up too?" Mu asked as he laid his back against the snow. It melted into his hair and sent shivers up his spine.

"Yeah, and we don't have pain killers," Cais winced at the thought.

"I've felt worse," Mu tried to shrug but yelped quietly.

"Alright, we can't have you screaming because we're still being tracked by catchers, so if you wouldn't mind biting this," Rusty explained as he positioned a cloth-wrapped stick between Mu's teeth.

Mu tested how hard he could bite down before it hurt his teeth.

Cais quietly took the knife from a small sheath on his belt and pulled a small flashlight from his backpack. He turned on the flashlight and held it carefully between his teeth so both of his hands were free to inspect the wound. It wasn't too deep but the bullet was still in the wound. He carefully cut the skin around the wound in a small 'X' shape. He carefully worked into the wound with the tip of the blade until it clinked against the bullet. He used the extra space created by the 'X' cuts to work the knife in beside to bullet. He finally managed to pop it up and out the wound.

Me was breathing hard through his nose as he bit the cloth-wrapped stick as hard his his jaws would allow. He moaned quietly in pain.

Jen had just returned with the bottle of clean water.

"Thank you," Cais took it, "Mu, I'm going to rinse the wound out. We're gonna roll you onto your side."

Mu nodded. He was barely keeping his eyes open at this point.

"Hey, idiot, stay awake," Ryoichi scolded as he noticed Mu closing his eyes.

Mu forced his eyes open. He glanced up at the pale haired young man who had scolded him.

Cais poured the water over the would. It drained out because Mu was laying on his side. After doing this a few times and dabbing at the gathering blood Cais rolled Mu back onto his back.

"I'm gonna stitch it up now," Cais warned. He already had the needle and suturing thread out.

_Think of everyone who have to go home to. You have to go home with all of these guys, Cais, Rusty, Rosy, Akio, Ryoichi, even Jen. You have Thyme, Reiki, Nobuhide, Blaze, Hien, Nick, TNT, Evans, Ibis, Hosei, James, Christy. You have all of them to go back to. Thyme, Reiki, and Blaze would never forgive me if I died. Nobu, TNT, Hien, and Christy would be crushed. Nick and Evans probably wouldn't care, but I'd miss them. The others would cry. They wouldn't want to cremate me or bury me or make me a grave marker, _Mu tried desperately to stay awake.

"Hey, stay with us Mu," Rusty lightly slapped his cheek in an attempt to keep Mu awake. Mu bit down harder on the stick to stifle a scream of pain as he was suddenly aware of the needle piercing through his skin.

Mu's fingers dug into the snow until he felt like his nails were all going to snap. He groaned in pain and tried to breathe steadily through his nose.

"There, we're done," Cais put away the needle. He would have to wash it later. He then carefully taped some soft fabric over the stitched area, "Mu, how are you doing?"

"I'm not sure who I hate most right now," he groaned quietly and smirked weakly. He didn't want to worry his team.

Cais laughed quietly in relief, "For once that's a good thing."

Mu's eyes began to drift closed again.

"Hey! Mu, just stay awake for a few more minutes, alright? I want to make sure you're really okay," Cais said.

"When are we gonna start heading towards the city again?" Mu asked.

"Soon," Cais assured.

* * *

A/N: Okay, yeah this chapter was brutal. I apologize. Thanks for reading, I appreciate reviews!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

* * *

Chapter 7

Mu opened his eyes and glanced around. He was in the infirmary and he was wrapped up in a rather fluffy blanket.

"Hey Mu, how're you feeling?" Reiki asked as soon as he noticed Mu looking around.

"Like I got shot," Mu answered blandly.

Reiki chuckled, "That would make sense. You did get shot."

"I know," Mu frowned, "How're the others?"

"Always so considerate! You care so much for your team," Reiki squealed before he answered, "Rosy's got the flu. Cais and Jen seemed really quiet. They told me what happened and I think that Jen is just trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she killed someone."

"Is Rosy alright? How bad is it?" Mu asked as he sat up. He groaned quietly; even healing couldn't completely get rid of the pain from the injury and his chest still ached.

"He'll be fine. I sent him back to you all's apartment to rest. Rusty and Nobu are taking care of him," Reiki smiled, "Does your chest still hurt?"

"Yeah, but not too bad. I need to go report to Nick," Mu went to stand up but was promptly frozen to the bed by a very unhappy Reiki.

"You _need _to stay here and rest. Akio reported to Nick when you all got back _yesterday_! Now sit back down. I need to make sure your injury is healed properly, and you know I can only do that once you're awake," Reiki spoke in a demanding tone that left absolutely no room for argument.

Mu scowled at the older water-bender. Sometimes he hated when Reiki got like this. It wasn't too bad if he was acting like this towards someone else, but Mu hated being told what to do. He took off his shirt to expose the now-scarred injury. The scar was shaped like a circle with an x or plus sign shape reaching out from its center.

Reiki gently prodded the scar.

Mu yelped; he wasn't expecting the sudden pain and Reiki's hands were ice cold.

"Did I surprise you?" Reiki chuckled as he poked the injury and monitored Mu's expression, "Alright, I think it's fine. Take it easy for a day or two. You're free to go back to your apartment."

"Do you know if Jen's back at her apartment?" Mu asked.

"Yes, she should be there. Cais said she hasn't left since they got back; well she's left to go eat but that's about it," Reiki nodded.

Mu stood up and pulled his shirt back on. He would have to ask Christy or Blaze to sew the bullet hole in his shirt up. He grabbed his new coat from the table by the door where people's possessions were placed while they were in the infirmary. He also picked up the contents of his pockets, which had been emptied. These included his cellphone, a small chunk of metal he used as a last resort weapon, and a crumpled picture with a neat written message on the back. He stuffed these items back into his pockets before he left. He walked to the women's apartment and knocked on the door.

"I don't want to go hang out, Rusty," Jen called hoarsely through the door. It sounded like she had been crying.

"It's Mu," he called.

He heard the sound of Jen standing up and tripping over something. The door opened and a splotchy-faced Jen greeted him. She sniffled and wiped her eyes on the wrist of her sleeve.

"Hey, how're you doing?" he asked. His eyebrows furrowed in concern as he noticed just how destroyed the living room of the apartment was. The rooms upstairs were still inaccessible because of an excess of clutter jamming the stairs.

"How does it look like I'm doing?" Jen snarled.

"Do you want to talk?" Mu asked as he gently guided her back inside.

Jen desperately shook her head. She had been crying so hard her breathing was wheezy and sounded painful.

"Jen, you need to talk to someone about this. If you don't talk about something like this it'll eat you away. You'll go insane and be sent to the power plants," Mu spoke in a soft tone that sounded something similar to a bird's quiet cooing.

"What does it matter if I'm sent down there? It's what I deserve. I killed her, Mu," Jen's voice held a note of desperation; it was as if she were trying so desperately to hold on to the thought that maybe someone didn't hate her.

Mu hugged her and rested his chin on top of her head, "Sweetheart, no one deserves to go down there. I wouldn't even wish that upon the catchers who took Anise away from me, I definitely wouldn't wish it upon you. Now tell me exactly _why _you killed Hazel."

"She begged me to kill her," Jen whispered and buried her face against his shoulder. Her tears soaked his shirt.

Mu gently rubbed the back of her head, "Exactly, she wanted that. You _saved _her from suffering until the very end. Cais told me she died with a smile on her face, right? Without you it would have been a pained expression. It could have been a grimace, a tearful expression, but it wouldn't have been a smile."

"I still killed her. I still murdered her Mu," Jen whimpered.

"Alright, I know what'll cheer you up. Come here, follow me," without waiting for a response Mu picked Jen up. It made his chest sting but he knew she wouldn't follow him if she was given the choice.

"It's kind of hard to follow you if you're carrying me. Also, didn't you just get out of the hospital," Jen squirmed out of his arms; she was careful not to harm him as she managed to get him to drop her on her butt. She stood up and dusted herself off, "Where were you taking me?"

"To my friend's shop. I think you'd appreciate it," Mu smiled.

"And if I said I didn't want to?" Jen turned to go back inside.

"Then I'd carry you the rest of the way there and probably hurt myself," Mu shrugged.

Jen sighed and followed him. They reached the shopping district and Jen followed Mu to a corner of the large area that sat under a platform of rock. There was a small staircase carved into the ground. Mu led her down, "Alright, Jenny, wait here for a second."

"Okay," Jen looked around. There were letters carved above the doorway but they weren't legible in the poor lighting.

"Blaze, where're ya?" Mu called throughout the store. The sounds of animals scuffling and moving about within in many cages made it nearly impossible to hear himself think. The shop was extremely cluttered with shelved even higher than Mu's head stacked with astounding amounts of animal care-products and animal food. A bird squawked rather loudly near his ear.

"Back here," Blaze answered from behind a shelf. He was cleaning out an animal's cage, "That you Mu? Here to get more food for your dragon-keet*?"

"No, he's got plenty right now. I actually came to introduce someone to you," Mu smiled.

"Did you try to convince another new recruit that I'm bi? Or homo?" Blaze asked with a frown.

"No, I didn't. Besides, I never did that in the first place. He assumed that on his own," Mu shook his head, "She was just a little upset after her first rescue mission and I decided she needed to see some animals to cheer up."

"Wait, she, as in a girl? A biological girl? A girl?!" Blaze's eyes widened.

"Yes, a girl. Her name is Jen," Mu nodded as he turned back to the door to tell Jen to enter.

Jen walked in and looked around. Her eyes seemed to light up at the sight of the cages of animals ranging from varieties of birds to rodents to canids to reptiles to insects and arachnids.

"Well, aren't you cute," Blaze grinned. He had amber eyes, signature of a fire-bender, and neat red-brown hair, "And your name is Jen? That's a very nice name."

Jen blushed, "Oh, thank you."

"So, Mu said that you were feeling down? Do you want to hold one of the rat-foxes, or play with one of the polar bear-dog puppies?" Blaze smiled.

"How would a polar bear-dog fit down here?" Jen gaped.

"The back room is a lot bigger than this," Blaze explained and motioned for Jen to follow. He was right; the back room had plenty of floor space and a towering ceiling. There was a large pen with two adult polar bear-dogs in it, one was watching four pups that tumbled and scuffled playfully. There were plenty of creatures she couldn't name that flew freely above them and clung to the stone walls. She was fairly certain a few were wolf-bats.

"Wow," Jen breathed as she stared at all of the various animals. Recently those of the non-bending world had been trying to breed out the "combined" animals. She found it cruel to force wolf-bats into extinction just so they could have wolves and bats separately.

"This city isn't only a safe place for benders. They were all rescued from death," Blaze grinned. He had a habit of grinning like a happy wolf instead of smiling normally; it was slightly intimidating to Jen.

"This is so beautiful. You'd never find something like this in the non-bending world," Jen smiled. The only sign that she had been so terribly crushed emotionally just moments before were the splotchy red marks on her face.

Blaze grinned again, "The polar bear-dog pups need to have some play time, care to run from a pack of slobbering, 'vicious', puppies?"

"That was worded very oddly, but I would love to," Jen giggled.

"Alright, once I let them out of the pen just start running; see how far you get," Blaze commanded as he walked over to the gate.

Jen nodded. As soon as the gate swung open the pups raced out. She took off and heard them yipping behind her. A surprising amount of weight crashed against the back of her left calf as one of the pups caught up. The others soon reached her and dragged her to the ground to gum at her "viciously" and lick her face. One scrambled to stand on her chest as if it were trying to look like a majestic leader.

"Small fluffy animals, one. Jen, zero," Mu chuckled as he walked over and picked one of the pups up. It licked his face and barked at him while it tried, and failed, to wag its tail; this resulted in its entire body waving from side to side in excitement, "Man, these guys have grown pretty fast."

"They have. I feel sorry for their parents," Blaze laughed at the two polar bear-dogs that were lazily sniffing around just outside of their pen.

"Where in the city do people even keep them if they buy them as pets?" Jen asked as the polar bear-puppy on her chest laid down and rested its head at the base of her neck. She was fairly certain is had just fallen asleep.

"In their apartments, or down here," Blaze answered. He picked up one of the other pups and carried it back to the pen. He closed the gate and set the pup down on the other side.

Mu put the pup he was carrying back.

"Uh, wanna help me?" Jen motioned to the pup sleeping on her chest.

"Aw, but he looks so peaceful," Mu laughed as he carefully picked it up and took it back to the pen.

Jen took the last pup back.

"Aren't you glad you came with me?" Mu asked.

Jen smiled, "I am, actually. Really happy."

"Good, now I hope you can get home on your own, because I think I need to go back home and take it easy. My chest is killing me," Mu nearly doubled over in pain and bit the inside of his cheek to hold back a groan of pain.

"What happened this time?" Blaze asked. He helped Mu stand up straight.

"I got shot in the chest," Mu motioned to the small hole in his shirt.

"Dude, you are one lucky guy. You've been stabbed, you've been impaled, you've practically been a pincushion for arrows, you've been shot, you've been poisoned, and more but you're still alive. So you're either lucky, or stubborn," Blaze shook his head, "Go rest, I'll make sure Jen gets home."

"Thanks," Mu chuckled and walked off.

"Has all of that stuff really happened to him?" Jen asked quietly once Mu had left.

"Sadly, yeah. I'm one of the few people who knows the extent of what he's been through, and it's pretty devastating to think about it. He's been through so much, and if he wanted he could ask Nick to assign him to a different group and Nick would, but Mu chooses to stay on the rescue team. He could switch to any other group he wanted or even create his own, but he still chooses to cling onto that hope of saving benders," Blaze didn't smile, he didn't grin; he sighed and gazed sadly at the ground, "It hurts me to know that he's so much younger than me and still suffers so much more. He's not even twenty yet, and I'm almost thirty, and here he is getting mortally wounded on a constant basis."

"Do you know anyone else from the rescue team?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, I practically raised those idiot twins. Jeez, teaching them and keeping them out of trouble was maddening," Blaze laughed, "Ryoichi is also a good friend of mine. And Cais is like everyone's little brother. You probably don't know her, but Christy and I have always been really good friends. She's the leader of one of the other five rescue sections. In fact, her team should be getting back soon."

"Mu told me there were no other girl's in the city," Jen blinked in confusion.

"Christy isn't biologically a girl, but it's what she identifies as. For matters like the laws considering the dating male to female ratio we count her as a male, just because of her body," Blaze explained.

"Ratio law, what?" Jen blinked.

"Oh, guess you haven't heard about that law," Blaze spoke thoughtfully, "We have a rule that if there is under a certain ratio of female to male citizens then a relationship between a male and female citizen is forbidden to avoid fighting amongst ourselves."

"Oh, that's good to know I guess," Jen said. She was tired and wanted to go home, "I'm gonna head home now. I think I can make it on my own."

"Alright, I'll see you later then, Jen," Blaze waved.

Soon Jen had returned home and collapsed on the couch. She needed to get some of the other rescue team members to help her clear the staircase so she could sleep in an actual bed soon. With thoughts similar to these she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: I will have more of the other characters next chapter, I just felt these poor things needed some attention before I continued the story too much. Also, squeeeeeeee~ Blaze is one of my favorite OCs and always has been. Thanks a bunch for reading, please R&amp;R.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

* * *

Chapter 8

Nick idly tapped his nails against his desk, "So you're saying you want me to scramble all of the rescue teams, which took a lot of work to arrange with people who could work together, so you can lead a team? Don't you think that's a bit, oh I don't know, selfish? Arrogant? Obnoxious?"

"Nick, the other teams have been failing. I'm asking you to entrust me with all of the most skilled members. I won't let my emotions get in the way like Mu does. I won't give up a new bender to save an old one some injuries," Nobuhide countered.

"I think they've been doing a fine job. We don't need more citizens, Nobu. We already have far too many, even the power plants are getting over crowded," Nick answered coldly.

"You never let me get to the second part of my plan," Nobuhide waved an accusatory finger at the older earth-bender, "I would also like to be granted temporary command of the demolition team. I could help expand the city and bring in more benders."

"No, Nobuhide," Nick shook his head firmly.

"But-"

"That is my answer, kid. I don't care what other parts there are to this idea. If we expand the city much more we risk collapsing what we already have," Nick glared.

Nobuhide left without much argument. He hadn't expected his idea to be rejected so quickly; Nick had shown so much interest in it at first. With a small huff of frustration Nobuhide headed back to his apartment. He opened the door, which was made of cardboard, and entered the living room.

Mu was sprawled out across the couch. He was snoring loudly and his head tipped over the edge of armrest; there was a thin stream of saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Nobuhide chuckled as he walked by. The others always seemed to be so relaxed when they weren't out at work.

"Nobu!" he was tackled by TNT, "Where have you been? You said you'd meet me in the cafeteria the other day but you _didn't! _Where were you?"

"Get off me," Nobuhide pried TNT's arms off of himself before pushing the fire-bender back by two or three feet, "I had a meeting with Nick. I never said I was going to meet you. I just said maybe we might see each other."

TNT frowned, "What could you possibly, _still_, be talking to Nick about? Are you resigning to the plants?"

"Of course not, you know I hate all of the vermin down there and I never want to be one of them," Nobuhide ignored the first question completely.

"They're not vermin, Nobu," TNT muttered. He had been down in the plants enough to know some of the people by name. He hated how most of the other benders acted like they were so much better than those in the tunnels.

"I'm going to my room," Nobuhide pushed past TNT and walked up the stairs.

TNT walked over to sit in one of the chairs in the living room. He picked up an old graphic novel he had been reading the last time he was unoccupied. Almost as soon as he flipped to the marked page his phone buzzed in his pocket. The caller ID read "James".

"What do you need?" TNT answered.

"There's a small problem in the plants. We need your help," came the sheepish answer. This was a usual occurrence for TNT. Usually small things that could be fixed easy like small breaks in structures that could be easily fixed with bending.

"Alright, I'll be down in a minute," TNT answered and hung up. He closed the door carefully behind him when he left.

* * *

The plants were bustling as usual when he descended the dark, humid staircase.

"Hey TNT! It's just this way!" Ibis shouted over the noise created by the large, bending operated machines. He was the co-founder of the demolition team and was almost always trailing close behind TNT outside of work.

"What happened?!" TNT had to shout just to hear himself. Gusts of steam billowed from a few generators that were having water boiled by a multitude of fire-benders and advanced water-benders.

"There's been a crack in one of the support beams! The metal ones! We need someone to meld it because it's too fine a crack for metal-bending!" Ibis answered at the top of his pathetically quiet voice.

TNT nodded to show he had heard. He followed Ibis to where a small group of demolition team members stood.

"It didn't take long for you to get here!" James called.

"Where's the crack?! We should probably fix that before we talk!" TNT pointed out.

"Right there!" Muga, another member of the team, pointed to a thin crack in the beam.

"Alright, I should be able to meld it from here!" TNT responded. It didn't take long to meld the metal back together.

"Can you bring some more food the next time you come down here to work?!" one of the unfortunate souls sentenced to live there asked as they passed.

"We'll try! Nick's been getting stricter but I'll do my best!" TNT responded and ruffled the boy's hair. The boy appeared to be around the age of thirteen. He was terribly skinny and he had multiple smudges of soot on his face.

The boy frowned, "Do you think you could try to sneak some bandages down?! My friend had an accident and we don't have enough clean cloth for bandages! We're afraid her eye'll get infected!"

"Yes! I'll be sure to bring them down tomorrow!" James answered that time.

"Thanks!" the boy smiled before returning to his work. A smile was a rare thing in the power plants, but generally the demolition team could get a few smiles and laughs from the workers.

The sound died down as the team climbed higher up the stairwell.

"I'm going home, is that alright?" Muga asked.

TNT smiled, "You've worked hard today, of course it is."

Muga waved as he walked off into the clutter of buildings to his own apartment.

"I'll be heading home too. I need to make sure my roommates don't decide to break my door again," Ibis left.

"I have to go get my arm checked out, I hurt it last week. I can also get those bandages," James turned in the direction of the hospital.

"You can have tomorrow off, if you want. You've been taking extra shifts for more money, right? I'll give you money for dinner tomorrow if you don't want to come in," TNT offered.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," James smiled thankfully.

"Can you tell Reiki to drop by my apartment whenever he's got time?" TNT asked with a grin.

James chuckled, "Of course. Maybe he'll actually have time off tonight."

* * *

TNT jumped slightly as he was awoken from his nap. He had fallen asleep on the couch; hopelessly waiting for Reiki to show up. Someone had knocked at the door. He sleepily brushed a few fingers through his hair before answering the door.

"Uh, hey. I got a little off time," Reiki smiled.

TNT smiled and hugged him. It wasn't like on of his usual, painful hugs. It was a soft hug, and he kissed Reiki's lips as he pulled back, "I'm glad you've got some times off. Do you wanna go get dinner?"

"Sure, it's been awhile since we've had much time to talk," Reiki seemed more awkward than normal, _I wonder if he's still mad at me._

"Do you want to go to the cafeteria? I can take you to one of the restaurants, I should have enough money for both of us to eat at one of the nicer restaurants," TNT offered.

"I think the cafeteria would be easier. Besides, you should be saving that money for more clothes," Reiki decided, "Besides, you've always seemed to prefer Thyme's cooking over anyone else's. It'll also be less crowded in there."

"That sounds like a good plan. When do you have to get back?" TNT asked. He carefully grabbed Reiki's hand and laced their fingers together.

"I'm not sure, Cais is covering for me," Reiki shrugged, "If there's anything too bad that comes in he'll come find me so I can go heal whatever it is. I could probably stay out for two, three hours."

TNT smiled at the healer, "You're way too responsible for your own good!"

"Seeing that my job is one of the most important to the health of the citizens I think it's a very necessary trait to have; though I can see how it annoys you," Reiki laughed as ruffled TNT's hair, "I promise I'll try to get off of work more often to see you, alright?"

"That's a good plan," TNT laid his head against Reiki's shoulder as they walked down one of the narrow streets of the city.

"I see the love birds finally got a chance to see each other!" James cackled from the window he had accidentally created in the wall of his room. That incident had been a bad lapse of judgement on his part, and it was the reason he was no longer trusted with heavy items like bookshelves.

"Thanks for passing on the message!" TNT called back up.

Reiki smiled placidly as he buried his nose against TNT's hair. He loved the sooty smell that always clung to the fire-bender's hair, "I'm so glad you're not mad at me for the other day."

"Why would I be? You were just worried," TNT looped an arm around Reiki's waist, "Sorry I was being so difficult."

"You were fine," Reiki exhaled against TNT's hair; this action drew a small chuckle from the fire-bender, "I love you TNT."

TNT sighed happily, "Love you too, Reiki~"

* * *

"Pull back now! It's hopeless!" Christy cried hoarsely to her small rescue team.

Two other benders were supported an injured boy between them by his arms. Blood dripped from above his eyes and a knife stuck from his lower back. Wind whipped a thick cover of snow up around them that decreased visibility to only a few feet in front of someone.

"We can't just leave him behind though! Please, Christy! He's one of us!" one of the others called back. He was limping badly on a leg that was clearly broken.

"It's too late, they've already been captured. They've probably been chipped by now and we can't risk taking them back," Christy tried to keep her voice from wavering as tears welled up in her eyes, "Just keep going! I have to get you all back home and healed!"

"We can't just leave Hosei behind. Please, can't we go back for him?" one of the two carrying the bleeding boy begged. His face was splotched red from the harsh wind and the tears that streamed his face.

"Focus on getting everyone home, I'll go back for the others. I'm not promising anything though," Christy hung back.

"We'll see you in the city," one of them whispered as they passed.

"'Course, why wouldn't you?" she smiled. Once they were gone she turned and dashed in the direction of the catcher's camp. She would save her team members.

* * *

Christy's team huddled in a small area sheltered from the wind. The boy who had been stabbed was shivering desperately and puffing warm air onto his hands to try to keep warm.

"I'm going after her," the one who had begged her to go back finally decided.

"Don't, she knows what she's doing," one of the others shook his head and dragged the limping young man to sit down in the sparse shelter, "As soon as the storm lets up we'll go home, because Christy promised to meet us there."

* * *

A/N: Thanks a bunch for reading! :D I'm rather interested to see what you all think of this chapter because I really enjoyed writing it.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

* * *

Chapter 9

"Mu! Come quick, Christy's team is back!" Cais panted as he pounded on the door to Mu's room, "They're back! Hurry up."

"What's wrong?" Mu opened the door faster than expected.

Cais took a moment to catch his breath. He had run from the door to the City all the to their apartment, near the center of the city, without stopping more than a few seconds to shout at Reiki that he had new patients on the way, "Christy's not with them."

Mu's expression darkened. He ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. His long legs carried him faster than Cais's could so the fire-bender struggled to keep up.

"Rosy, Rusty, please come too," Cais wheezed. He wasn't used to running with that type of urgency.

The twins followed close behind their leader as they all headed for the infirmary.

Mu reached the cube-like building first.

"Mu, please you have to go help her," he was greeted by the frantic voice of the limping boy who had begged Christy to go back.

"What happened, where's Chris?" Mu demanded.

Another of her team answered the question, "She went to a catcher's camp to free Hosei and Liang and the bender we were going to help. She's on her own, Mu."

"You idiots just let her go alone?! One of you could have gone with her!" Rusty snarled. He had been the one to rescue Christy when they first found her and had always had a soft-spot for the girl.

"She wouldn't let us. Besides, most of us were too hurt to be much help. It's storming really bad outside, too. I'm really worried about her," the unfortunate young man who had been stabbed in the back explained, "Couldn't you send your team to help? Or one of the other teams?"

"I'm not risking my team in a blizzard, Christy wouldn't want that. I'll go, though. Rusty, if you want you can come," Mu turned, "I'll leave as soon as I can get enough food together. Where was the camp?"

"It was in the middle of the forest. Thank you so much, Mu," one of the uninjured members of the team thanked tearfully.

"I just want to help Christy. She's one of our best benders after all," Mu turned and left to get ready.

* * *

_**** it! Just a little bit further, legs. Don't give out now, _Christy knew her leg was broken. She could practically feel the bones grinding together as she ran. Adrenaline pumped through her body; it allowed her to ignore the sharp bursts of pain that shot through her leg and the ache of her muscles from carrying the dead weight of Liang over her shoulders.

Hosei trailed behind her with their newest bender cradled against his chest. It was a young girl with beautiful, pale blonde hair. The reports said she was an air-bender.

"We're almost there, don't slow down," Christy panted back as she dragged herself through the snow. Catchers were close behind and they had to be careful about how well they could cover their tracks. The mountain loomed in front of them and soon they reached the icy wall.

Hosei knocked on the stone with a certain rhythm.

The wall slid out to reveal the door. After they were inside Christy turned around and bent the snow back over their prints. She bent the snow in another area to match their tracks before collapsing in an exhausted heep to the ground. The wall and door were shut behind her.

"Christy," Rusty gasped. He had been about to leave with Mu to try and find the water-bender.

"Girl's hurt, Liang's really hurt. Help them," Christy panted as she forced herself to sit up. She couldn't remember the girl's name, and she was barely aware of anything aside from the pounding behind her temples and the burning in her leg.

Rusty helped Christy stand up after Mu had picked Liang up and turned to take him to the infirmary.

"Why didn't you take one of your teammates with you?" Rusty asked as he supported her.

"I can't risk their lives because of my own failure," Christy murmured and added with a small chuckle, "Besides, they would've slowed me down."

"Be more careful next time. When they told us what happened I nearly had a heart attack," Rusty smiled slightly at her. He ruffled her sandy colored her.

Christy smiled slightly, "Being in charge of a rescue team is different than simply being a member. We can't risk being careful about our own health. We have too many people like you to look out for to worry about ourselves."

"You and Mu will never cease to amaze me with that attitude," Rusty sighed as he helped Christy limp down the stairs from the passage into the city. Soon they reached the infirmary. It was far busier than normal and Reiki was bustling busily between three beds. One held the boy who had been stabbed. He was still recovering from blood loss from his previous injury and required constant care. The other was the boy who had been limping. Reiki deemed it unsafe to heal his leg until the swelling had gone down some; he had to assess the damage. The third held someone from the demolition team who looked to have suffered from a head injury. Now Liang, the girl, and Christy would occupy three more beds.

"Lay Christy down there," Reiki motioned to one of the free beds. The one beside the one where Liang was already laid.

"I can walk on my own," Christy muttered as she lightly pushed away from Rusty to limp on her own to the bed. It felt good to be off of her leg but it throbbed painfully as she propped it up.

"You took quiet a beating there, Christy," Reiki sighed as he walked past her to treat the girl and Liang, who were both more injured.

"I think I broke my leg," Christy murmured irritably, "And it doesn't help that my eye is swelling shut. Geez, I didn't realize anyone could punch that hard."

Reiki laughed as he healed some internal damage in Liang's abdomen, "Yeah, you look pretty ugly with your face all bruised up like that."

"Hey!" Christy snapped indignantly.

"I mean that in the nicest way, Chris," Reiki grinned as he carefully checked the young girl they brought in for injuries, "This girl's just taken a hit to her head. You did a good job getting her back safely."

"Good," Christy sighed in relief, "Now come see if you can heal my leg because it _hurts_."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Reiki smiled. He trailed water over her leg and healed the bone. He then healed the bruising to her face and arm, "Anything else hurt?"

"My pride, but I doubt you can heal that," Christy laughed.

Reiki chuckled, "Nope, can't help you there."

"I'm gonna leave now, if you think I'm safe to," Christy stood up.

"Yes, you seem fine. If anything starts hurting come by," Reiki commanded.

"I will," Christy waved away his concern. She left and began heading towards her apartment. She didn't stay in the women's apartment as was expected of her. It had been too eerie to be the only one living there so she decided to start rooming with her old teacher Ibis. He shared his small apartment with two more boys, both considerably younger than him, named Ly and Liam.

"You're back," Ibis greeted her with a smile.

"Yep, and I managed to get everyone back safely, mostly safely," Christy smiled, "There were a few unnecessary injuries and scares though."

Ibis clapped her on the shoulder, "I'm sure you did your best. Why don't we go grab dinner tonight to celebrate your return? Like always."

"Could we go to that good noodle place?" Christy smiled shyly.

"Of course. I got a raise last week so we can afford that no problem. Maybe Ly and Liam can come too. They've finally gotten some good business in their shops so it could be like a family celebration," Ibis grinned widely.

"We are kinda like a family I guess," Christy smiled. Ibis had practically raised her like he were her father after she had been brought to the city. She had been twelve at the time, and had had some pretty dark thoughts from her near death experiences in the execution camp she had been rescued from, but Ibis still watched after her almost as soon as she was named his student, "I wish I could help pay for it, but I've got to focus on getting new clothes. This blizzard was a bad one and I need a new coat."

"No problem, it's fine," Ibis assured, "How about we go tomorrow after I get off of work?"

"Sounds like a plan," Christy smiled, "Now I'm gonna go to bed, I'm exhausted."

"That's a good idea. Good night, sleep well," Ibis ruffled her hair before he returned to his previous spot on the couch.

* * *

"It looks like we've lost another bender," a girl, about seventeen, scowled. She wore the classic clothes of a catcher

"Yes, we have. Sorry, Ms. Miach," another catcher fidgeted uncomfortably, "But we managed to chip one of them."

"And have you checked the tracker since they escaped?" the girl, Miach, asked with pursed lips.

"Ah, no," the catcher shook his head, "We were going to soon."

"You idiot. They check them for trackers before they get into the city. If you injected one into that girl we captured then one of the others would have cut it out of her," Miach scowled.

The catcher gulped, "Sorry, we didn't know."

"Be more careful next time, benders are getting to be bigger pests by the day. In fact, I say it's time _I _go hunting myself," Miach grinned.

* * *

A/N: I'm gonna cut the chapter off here. Please review~


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK.

* * *

Chapter 10

Mu anxiously raked fingers through his hair as he pushed the infirmary doors open. The girl who Christy had brought in was still unconscious, and as usual with benders so young and so naturally frail Nick had chosen to send her to the power plants. Christy was checking on the girl.

"Christy, I need to talk to you outside. Wanna go to the springs?" Mu asked. He tried not to visibly chew his lip but it was a bad habit of his whenever he had bad news and he couldn't resist stripping away some of the dry skin.

"Sure," Christy shrugged. She was acting oblivious to Mu's nervous expression, but Mu knew better than that. She knew, she knew all too well what was coming but she was desperately hoping it might be different this time. She followed him to a small passageway of the city that was only visible behind the far right row of houses. Steam billowed from the small tunnel's opening and it smelled like different minerals.

"How're your injuries doing?" Mu asked as they entered the small tunnel. It was fairly short and inside there was a naturally occurring pocket of stone with a large, steaming pool of water. It was a hot spring that they had discovered shortly after constructing the city. Many benders liked to visit it on their off time.

"They're doing better. I'm almost completely healed but Reiki wants me to be careful about exerting myself so I'm not allowed to do very much until he says so. It sucks, because I really just wanna go beat one of my students senseless because someone told me they were skipping practice while I was gone," Christy sighed as she stripped her shirt off. Soon she was completely naked and in the hot spring. Her body relaxed almost immediately and muscles she didn't realize she had stopped hurting for the first time in weeks.

Mu joined her shortly after in the bubbling water, "Christy, there's something I needed to talk to you about."

"I know, and I think I know what it is," Christy tried to keep her voice even.

"That girl you brought back, tomorrow I'm going to take her down and leave her in the power plants. She will be cared for there until she wakes up and then be put to work however the other workers down there see fit. I tried so hard to convince Nick to do something else, Chris, I really did. Please don't hate me for failing again," Mu swallowed hard as a painful lump formed in his throat. It made tears burn the back of his eyes but he refused to cry in front of anyone else.

"Mu, you tried. That's enough for me," Christy smiled sadly and hugged him, "I just wish these things could be different."

"Different," Mu whispered and nodded, "We all do, Christy. I shouldn't be saying this, but I can't wait until Nick resigns."

Christy looked troubled, "Haven't you heard the rumors? Him and Nobuhide have been plotting something recently, and I personally think that Nick is thinking of letting Nobu take his place."

"He wouldn't. When we built the city we agreed that the leader would always be a builder of the city until we were all dead. There's still plenty of us alive so Nick can't exactly choose whoever he wants," Mu assured.

"I hope you're right, because this city is becoming less and less of a paradise every day," Christy whispered as a tear finally slipped from her eye.

* * *

Hien limped as quickly as he could across one of the many paths throughout the city that almost resembled a street. His uneven gait slowed him down but not by much and he had reached Mu, Rusty, Rosy, Cais, Nobuhide, and TNT's apartment in next to no time, "Mu! Open up, it's important!"

"What?" Mu opened the door almost as soon as Hien had pounded against the cardboard structure.

"There's a bender, the report is from a town only about ten miles from here. You have to hurry and go before he gets too far," Hien panted. His face was flushed from the effort of running around. He wasn't used to much physical activity anymore because of his injuries.

"Alright, we'll leave in an hour. Could you do me a favor and go tell Jen?" Mu asked as he turned back into the house to go grab the emergency pack he always had ready for short notice trips like these. Everyone on the rescue teams had similar packs.

Hien nodded in understanding, panted a response, and turned to limp off.

"Rusty, Rosy, Cais, Nobu, c'mon we're going out for a bender. Hurry up they're real close," Mu called up the stairs as he went to go tell Akio and Ryoichi.

"On it!" they all answered back so quickly it was starling. Within half an hour the entire team was gathered in front of the tunnel passage.

"We should be back by tomorrow, lets go," Mu turned and walked down the dark passageway.

* * *

"Guys, I found him!" Jen called. They had gotten a brief description and a picture of the man they were sent to rescue, and the information that he was a water-bender.

He laid in a snow drift; his lips were blue and his skin was either pink or white because of the chill the snow and wind brought.

Jen checked for a pulse. It was slow, but it was there, "Alright, let's get you home."

"We took care of the catchers, Jenny. Good job on finding him," Mu grinned. He was carrying two coats he had taken from the catchers he had knocked out.

"Hey, can I see one of those?" Jen asked and held her hand out for one of the thick coats.

Mu handed the coat over with no comment.

Jen carefully wrapped the coat around the young man and zipped it up so he looked like a cocoon. With that she turned to Nobuhide, "Could you pick him up for me, I don't think I can."

"Weakling," Nobuhide scoffed and picked the man up with little effort.

"So, were there many catchers?" Jen asked Mu.

"Yeah, I wanna say we found about ten. They attacked us pretty hard at first, but after the first few we beat back they started to retreat," Mu answered with a smug grin.

Jen chuckled, "Catchers can be such scaredy cats sometimes."

"They really can be. You knock one out and they all scatter like birds," Cais agreed.

"Seriously, they have no dedication to their job. Of course, that's a good thing for us," Rusty added with a nod.

Rosy smiled contently, "If they had dedication to their job, Rusty, we'd all be dead."

"Only if they were bright enough to figure out how to find us," Akio shrugged.

"They _are_ a little on the dim side," Ryoichi agreed.

"Alright, alright, time to quiet down guys. We're getting too close to the forest to be making this much noise," Mu stated in a whisper.

The conversation died down after that and they made the rest of their short trip in silence. They reached the entrance to the city, knocked rhythmically, and were let in.

"I'm gonna report to Nick, Jenny, why not come with me," Mu said as Nobuhide went to take the man to the hospital and the others went to go back home or to the springs.

Jen followed him to the large office building. She hadn't met Nick before, and to be completely honest she was rather afraid of the earth-bender.

"If he says anything rude or snarky to you just try to ignore it, okay?" Mu asked.

"I can't make any promises," Jen replied.

"Come on, be a good sport, Jenny. He calls you ugly retort back, see how well you can get him," Mu grinned.

"Couldn't that get me in trouble?" Jen asked.

"'Course not, our laws are a bit more sturdy than that. Just don't insult him first," Mu laughed and ruffled her hair.

She frowned at his enthusiasm, "Don't ruffle my hair. I'm not a child."

"I never said you were one, Jenny. It's just so fun to ruffle your hair, the glare you give me is just adorable," as if to prove his point Mu ruffled her hair again, "We should hurry up now. Nick's not a patient person, and he expects to get reports as soon as one of us is able."

Jen followed silently. She had a personal hate for Nick, after she had seen the girl taken to the power plants. She hated that Nick had tried to get rid of her as well, but she tried not to let that hate simmer for very long. They made it to the top of the stairs and Mu knocked loudly on the door.

"Who is it?" Nick called.

"Mu, I came to report," Mu answered back in a voice just under a shout.

"Come on in," Nick answered back.

Mu pushed open one of the large doors.

Jen didn't expect to see such a normal room anywhere in the entire city. It had a small window, something no other building had, so Nick could look out over the city. This room actually had carpet, a very nice, blood-red carpet that was thick enough to suggest wealth. There was a spinning office chair, one with wheels, pushed up against one wall. The desk was made of dark, polished wood and had a thick, padded armchair pushed up behind it. There were two more nice chairs pushed up against the walls and one nice bookshelf that matched the desk. The room had poor lighting, though, and the only way it was easy to see was the glow coming from the stones at the roof of the cave and spilling in through the small window.

Nick sat, lazily twirling a pen between his fingers, "Oh, you brought Jen. How have you been enjoying the city?"

"It's very nice, Nick. Thank you for letting me stay here in the city," Jen hoped her voice didn't sound forced or bitter, but it felt like she was speaking through clenched teeth.

"Of course, anyone with your skill shouldn't be denied their citizenship," Nick smiled back kindly, "Now, how did the rescue go?"

"It was a success. No one was injured, and our new bender is only hypothermic. We didn't have to go far, either, to get to him," Mu answered back.

"That's very good to hear. I was getting very worried about your team," Nick smiled menacingly, "It's good to see that you're making progress."

Mu swallowed, _He isn't really thinking about replacing me. He would never do that._

"How has the rescue team treated you, Jen?" Nick asked.

"Oh, it's been a very good job. I feel I made the right choice in picking it," Jen smiled. She could practically feel the unease rolling off of Mu in waves.

Nick laughed, "That's wonderful. You know, many of the benders who choose that path don't stick with it for very long."

"Well, this is only my second rescue, of course I wouldn't have had a chance to quit," Jen chuckled back.

"I heard your first job didn't go very well, would you like to tell me about it?" Nick sounded anything but pleasant.

Jen's smile became noticeably strained, "I prefer not to think about it, but thank you for your kind offer."

"Nick, I just remembered, it's about time for Jen and I's training session. I'll see you later," Mu spoke a little more forcefully that was truly necessary. He slammed the door on his way out. This caused the floor to shudder but he didn't care as he dragged Jen along behind him.

"Mu, calm down," Jen whispered once they were outside. His grip on her wrist was painful and she could feel her fingers going numb, but she wasn't going to tell him to let go.

Mu exhaled deeply. His grip loosened.

Jen winced and pulled her wrist close to her chest.

"Oh, sorry," Mu apologized.

"It's fine, are you alright?" Jen asked quietly.

"You won't believe me even if I say I am," Mu sighed, "So I'll just answer truthfully. No, I'm not. I'm far from fine."

"Want to talk about it?" Jen asked quietly.

"If you wouldn't mind listening, I would love to," Mu nodded and swallowed hard again.

"Alright, do you want to talk here, or somewhere else?" Jen asked gently.

"Can we go down to the training grounds? They're generally calm enough," Mu asked.

"Yes, we can," Jen nodded and gently took his hand. She led him to the training grounds, down the ladder and through the loudest tunnels where people were fighting and practicing their bending. She led them down one of the far tunnels to the deepest point of the city that either of them knew of.

"Jen, have you ever just felt like you had far too many responsibilities but couldn't risk giving them up or burden anyone else with them?" Mu asked when they finally came to a stop. He was rubbing his temples.

"Yeah, though probably not as severe as you seem to be feeling it," Jen nodded. She sat down with her back resting against the wall. Mu took this as his own cue and sat down beside her.

"It's just a little overwhelming, especially recently. About three years ago we lost ten of our best benders. Five from my team, two from Christy's team, and three from Evans's team. Many of them were among the first benders to live in the city, or they were founders of the city. I can't say I'd ever seen benders as good as these ten, and since then we've been having so much trouble, and even when we get someone back alive Nick sends them to the power plants. We're so short handed that I can hardly keep my team going sometimes," Mu explained, his voice was a broken, quiet one, "And having to watch bender after bender sentenced to something far worse than even the execution camps after I _promise _them safety and family is one of the most painful things I've been put through. I've been in both the plants, and the camps before, and the plants are far worse. Being trapped down there every day of every week of my live sounds like hell. I hate it, Jen. I HATE IT!"

"I don't know what to say, Mu. But, that sounds awful, I really wish I could help," Jen said, "Anything else you feel like you need to say?"

"Nick's planning to **** up the rescue teams so his precious little 'best student' can have his 'perfect' rescue team, and that'll probably land my whole team as exiles, not just to the plants but out of the city. That'd include you, Jenny. The twins, I could never do that to them. Cais, this is the only place he's even known. Akio is so proud of this place, it'd kill him to be banished. And Ryoichi just wants to be peaceful here. I'm dragging you all into deep **** because I got into a fight with Nick _years _ago," Mu said.

"Mu, if Nick tries something like that you know that you'll have a lot of people to help you, right?" Jen assured.

"But what good will it do?! Even if we get a ****ing rebellion started it would only make things worse! I'm so worthless, Jen, and everyone always praises me like a hero!" Mu seethed.

"No one thinks you're worthless, think of how many people you've-"

"What, saved?! Ha, don't make laugh! Half of the people I've brought back have been sent to the power plants, the rest have to live and work here, the little hell I created just so I wouldn't be alone! I've forced so many people here, they have to get jobs here and suffer because of it! I've never done anyone an ounce of good," Mu was breathing hard by the time he stopped talking.

"What about me? I like it here, Mu. So do a lot of the others, none of us hate it here," Jen said, "And if Nick tries to kick you out of the city I'd do everything short of getting myself killed to help."

"Jen, no. None of you need to worry about me, alright? I've lived outside of the city after being found as a bender, I could survive it, but I'm worried about you guys. Akio and I, we'd be able to make it, but not you all," Mu pointed out, "Just don't do anything stupid, Jen. Whatever happens happens, and if I get kicked out, so be it."

"No! How many people have you saved, Mu? A lot, even since I've been here! The world needs you, especially this city," Jen argued.

"You just don't get it. This city shouldn't exist, Jen," Mu muttered. His expression had darkened considerably.

"But why not? What's wrong with it?!" Jen exclaimed in frustration.

"It's been built on too much bloodshed. This stupid war with the non-benders would be over if it weren't for this city," Mu said, "We're just causing more suffering because we're too selfish to die. That's what all the creators have done."

"It's not selfish, Mu, if you wanna live," Jen said calmingly, "And besides, the non-benders started this war they should be prepared for the consequences of it."

Mu glanced up at Jen with emotionless eyes before he turned his gaze back to the ground.

"Hey, how about we get your mind off of this? We can go to Blaze's store, pick up some food for your dragon-keet, and then find something else to do, 'kay?" Jen offered as she smiled lightly at him.

"Sure, that sounds good," Mu agreed.

"Then maybe we can also go to the cafeteria and get lunch," Jen smiled cheerfully. She truly felt very sad for Mu, but she had to fake this for him.

Mu nodded and followed behind her.

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Jen! I thought we'd cleared the stairs before," Mu apologized for the fifth time since he had agreed to help Jen clear her stairway.

"It's fine, the sofa was comfy enough," Jen waved off his apology as she carefully pulled a box from the clutter that clogged the staircase, "How'd this crap get here anyway?"

"We were gonna destroy this place a long time ago, after Christy moved out and the other girls here left or got killed, but we got a little side tracked with expanding the city, so this is the stuff we were gonna take out and keep or sell. Hey, put that box over there, it's supposed to go to my apartment," Mu answered, "That box with it, it's got some stuff Reiki was gonna keep. And that one too, I'll let Nobu take it to Nick."

"I would have done this by myself, but I couldn't reach the boxes up there," Jen said apologetically and she put the boxes where Mu directed, "What about this one?"

"You can just toss that one out, it's got nothing of any value to anyone anymore, just some old personal stuff," Mu tried to stay cheerful, even though the objects in the box had been meant for a child who had been on his team until the year before. Until the young teen had been killed by a catcher that Mu had failed to protect him from.

"Alright, what about this one?" Jen asked as she put that one down and picked up another box.

"That should go to Blaze, put it in that stack," Mu said as he set another box down in the things to be discarded, "That one can be burned as well. Put that over there, I'll give it to TNT so that he can take it down to the plants."

"Alright," Jen nodded and put the box down, "Hey, there's a picture of Cais."

"Actually, that's not Cais. That's what TNT used to look like," Mu smiled as he looked over Jen's shoulder, "That's Cais."

"Really?! He's so young," Jen gaped, "When was this taken?"

"I think that was taken about six years ago, Cais'd have been about seven then. Oh, that's me," Mu pointed out.

"He was so cute," Jen giggled, "Wow, you had such a chubby face then."

"No I didn't," Mu responded indignantly, "I had a baby face, it wasn't chubby."

"Wait, is that Blaze?" Jen asked as she pointed at the young man on the far left of the small group.

"Sure is, he was about nineteen then," Mu nodded, "And that was Reiki. I think that was just after he and TNT started dating."

"You all used to look so innocent," Jen breathed, "Where should I put this?"

"I'll take it. I bet the guys would like to see it," Mu took it and carefully folded the slip of paper and put it in his back pocket.

"It looks like there's just a few more boxes. If you want to start taking them where they belong I can get the rest out of the stairwell and we can sort through them once you're done," Jen assured.

"Alright, I promise I'll be back soon. Be careful, I'm not sure what type of condition the upstairs is in. It'll be really dusty, that much I know," Mu warned as he picked up three boxes and left.

Jen moved the rest of the boxes and climbed the stairs. Her feet stirred up clouds of thick, grey dust that made her throat tighten. She switched on the light, only to have sparks shower down as the aged light-bulb busted above her. She pulled the pen light from her side pocket and used it to find her way up the stairs. She tried the top switch and was glad when the room was flooded with artificial light. Dust, almost a centimeter thick in some places, coated almost every surface of the room from the scrappy, dirty carpet to the five beds lined against the walls. The covers on them were still messy, as if their occupants had just left a little while before. The room smelled of mold and dust. There was a large dresser at one side of the room with multiple drawers pulled open and clothes trailing out from the inside. Framed pictures lined the wall above the dresser and the top of the dresser.

Jen reached up, lightly grabbing the end of her sleeve so that her fingers pressed it against her palm and pulled it tightly across the heel of her palm. She wiped it across one picture frame to reveal a picture of who she assumed was Mu with another girl. They were on top of a mountain, it looked like the mountain the city was in, and the girl was hugging Mu from behind so that one of her shoulders and her arm could be seen from under his arm, which was lifted slightly as if she had surprised him with the hug. A large grin was plastered across the girl's face. Her hair was long and black, with a thickness and a wave to it that made it look identical to Jen's own hair. Her skin was a pale shade of tan and her eyes were slightly tilted, almond shaped, and bright amber. The girl was almost identical to what Jen had looked like two years before. The only difference was that the girl in the picture didn't have glasses.

"Jen! Where'd you go?!" Mu called from downstairs.

"I'm up here!" Jen called, "Be careful on the stairs, the light is out!"

She heard Mu climb the stairs and saw him poke his head around the doorway, "Huh, so this is what their old room looked like. I'd have never of guessed they'd keep it this messy."

"Hey Mu, who's this?" Jen asked and handed him the framed picture.

Mu's expression grew nostalgic, "That's Anise. She was one of the founders of the city."

"She looked just like me," Jen said.

"Yeah, when I first saw your wanted picture, for a minute, I thought it might've been her living amongst the non-benders. I knew, as soon as I met you, that I wasn't right, though," Mu sighed, "You were so much more vulnerable than you could ever be."

"I'm not sure if I should take offense to that comment," Jen frowned.

"I'm just stating the truth," Mu shrugged and ruffled her hair, "I wanna make sure the plumbings working, would you mind staying up here and flushing the toilet while I go check the pipes? I'll holler when you need to flush it."

"Alright," Jen nodded. She walked over to the bathroom and turned on the light. It was a small, white tile room with a mirror and a small bath. A toilet was squished between the sink and the tub. The trashcan was still full, with pieces of toilet paper used to fix make-up or clean up blood from a shaving incident or a fight, and toilet paper rolls. The bath had four individual razors that still had bits of hair stuck on their blades.

"Go ahead and flush the toilet!" Mu's voice was muffled by the space between them but she heard and flushed it. A few minutes later Mu walked up and said, "It looks like it's all good. With a bit of work this place could almost be inhabitable again."

"That's good. I'm so tired of sleeping on the couch every night," Jen grinned.

"I'll see about having the guys come over and help clean this place up tomorrow. Rusty and Rosy have been getting bored so this should solve that problem right up," Mu said.

"Alright, thanks so much for this," Jen smiled.

"See ya later, Jenny," Mu ruffled her hair again.

"Bye," she waved after him as he left.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading this insanely long chapter, please review~


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK.

* * *

Chapter 11

Nick glared at the door as it opened, "Hey, master."

"What do you want, brat?" Nick glared at Mu.

Mu winced slightly at Nick's tone, "I brought you an old box of stuff that I found while helping Jen clean the women's apartment. It has a lot of Ayaka's old stuff in it."

"Really? I thought you'd lost all of that stuff," Nick glared at Mu.

"I never said that, master," Mu wanted to hide, but he knew he had to face up to Nick sometime.

"Let me see that," Nick stood and walked across the room to retrieve the box. In the box were multiple pictures, a few books, a cellphone, a small golden ring, and a folded blanket, "I had missed this stuff."

"If you want to go back and look through the pictures that are left upstairs, you're more than welcome to. Jen's cleaning out the room tomorrow," Mu informed.

"I'll keep that in mind," Nick nodded and took the box, "You can go."

"Of course," Mu nodded and left.

Nick carried the box over to his desk as he sat down heavily. He picked up the ring, which had been set atop the blanket and pictures. He gently ran the golden band between his fingers as a bitter, angry smile crossed his face. The ring matched one the he wore on his ring finger.

"Ayaka, why did you have to go?" he whispered as he set the ring aside. He picked up the picture. It was of a young woman with dark brown hair, cut with bangs that rested in a flat cut line across the center of her forehead. Her eyebrows had a natural outward tilt that gave her expression a sympathetic look, and her skin was naturally tan. Her eyes were dark blue, with a slight almond shape to them, and a tilt as well. A small, serene smile was plastered across her face in the photo, and she was holding her hand up to display a golden ring that matched the one laying on the desk beside him. The next picture had him, the woman, and Cais. Cais was grinning and hugging both of them, one of his arms around either of their waists. Nick glared bitterly at the picture as he put it down on his desk as well. The next was a copy of one that many of the older citizens of the city. It had almost twenty members squeezed together to fit into the frame of one camera.

Nick could count the remaining members in the picture on one hand, and it was painful for him to even look at the picture. The next picture was one of the girl cradling a small, baby ostrich-horse and smiling up at the camera. Nick could still clearly remember the day that photo had been taken:

_"Nick, come on, some of the ostrich-horses in Blaze's shop should be hatching today!" Ayaka grinned and dragged Nick along by his hand. Theshopping district was very small, with maybe ten shops in the small cave. _

_"Hold up, hold up," Nick laughed as he tugged her back by the wrist so she would slow down, "I'd have followed faster had you not been dragging me along."_

_"Sorry, I'm just excited! I love baby animals," Ayaka was practically bouncing on her heels where she stood and Nick laughed as he walked along beside her._

_"You're such a weirdo, Ayaka. I love you, but sometimes I just have to wonder about you," Nick shook his head and smiled at his girlfriend._

_Ayaka playfully pouted, "I'm not that weird!"_

_"Then our definitions of weird are two completely different things," Nick kissed her cheek before he trotted down the stairs to Blaze's shop and opened the door for Ayaka, like a gentleman._

_"Thanks, Nicky," Ayaka smiled as she walked into the small shop._

_"Aya, did you come to see the birds?" Blaze asked, poking his head around the corner from the back room of the small shop._

_"Yeah, Rusty said that they hatched this morning," Ayaka nodded._

_"They did. In fact, I need some help keeping them in the nest, would you mind helping?" Blaze asked, "They're trying to get away, even though their eyes are barely open. These guys are definitely gonna be trouble makers."_

_"I'd be glad to help, Nick wants to too, right Nicky?" Ayaka spoke in a chirpy voice._

_"I mean, I could, but I really don't wanna-" Nick was cut off as Ayaka dragged him along to the back room of the shop._

_"I see she's pushy as ever," Blaze grinned as he stepped away from the doorway to let the two pass._

_Nick glared at Blaze and earned a good-natured hair-ruffle from the slightly older fire-bender, "You two are so cute."_

_At that moment a small ostrich-horse, no taller than Nick's ankle, stumbled by his foot._

_"Geez they're persistent," Blaze shook his head in wonder as he stooped down to pick the bird up carefully. Ostrich-horses generally developed more inside their egg than most birds, so they were fairly mobile soon after they hatched._

_Suddenly someone else poked their head through the door. He looked to be a very timid young man with slight features and a ghosting smile that looked so gentle and naive it seemed unreal._

_"Hey Click, did you wanna come see the birds?" Blaze asked._

_Click nodded hesitantly._

_"Come on, just be careful not to step on any of them, and don't pick them up," Blaze said._

_The boy scampered in, watching where he stepped. A camera hung on a strap around his neck and lightly swung back and forth against his chest. His face lit up._

_"Blaze, I think this one likes me, it's sitting still," Ayaka smiled. One of the birds had let its legs lay out awkwardly to either side of it's downy body as it sat on the palms of her hands._

_"Hey Click, think you can get that as a picture?" Nick asked._

_"Ye," the boy nodded enthusiastically. His voice sounded odd, as if he had some sort of speech impediment. He took the picture, and showed the image on the digital screen to Nick._

_"Good job, mind giving her a copy when you print pictures next time?" Nick asked._

_Click smiled instead of giving a response._

Nick set the picture aside, he couldn't look at the rest, it was too painful for him. He stuffed the ring in his pocket and packed the stuff back into the box; he set the box on his bookshelf on the way out of his office. His room, which included a bed and other furniture as well as a bathroom attached, was just one floor below his office.

He locked the room to his door before he went and laid face-down on his bed, hoping that the pillow would quiet his anguished sobs as he remembered what he had lost.

* * *

"Good job Jen, you're getting better," Mu congratulated as Jen kicked chunk after chunk of rock at him. She had improved considerably in her time living in the city. She could draw rocks clear from the ground and then choose their direction of fire. She braced her feet on the ground by falling into a horse stance and sliding one leg forward as she motioned her arms up; this movement pulled a chunk of stone from the ground, and by widening her stance to either side and pulling one arm down, spreading her fingers, she managed to split the stone into multiple pieces. The training grounds, since they were so deep in the earth, often provided a rather warm environment and today was no different. Sweat poured from Jen's pores and soaked her hair and clothes. She sent one of the rocks at Mu, who expertly dodged it and sent the heavy stone back.

Jen ducked beneath the rock and let it crash into the tunnel wall behind her before she sent another rock hurtling towards Mu. This one hit him, and he counted himself lucky yet again as the rock hit the thick padding he wore with a dull thud.

"Alright, let's call it a day, you've done great," Mu winced as he stood up. The thick protective padding was only to prevent internal damage, there was usually a good amount of light bruising left from days of target practice.

"Y'okay? Did I over do it?" Jen panted. She was wearing the pair of jeans that she had been given upon arriving at the city, and a new t-shirt that Mu had bought her not too long ago. It was made of light, breathable fabric, and it was a slightly tight, girl-cut style that made training and fighting in the tunnels far easier. The pale blue shirt was stained dark in some spots from the sweat that was dripping from Jen's body.

Mu laughed, "I'm fine, just a little bruised. That definitely shows how much you've improved. Keep up this work and you might get your own student next time we get a new earth-bender."

"And be stuck in your position? No way," Jen laughed as well. Times like this were usually very light-hearted in nature do to the blown off steam and the lack of stress.

"Hey, it's not all bad," Mu ruffled her hair, "C'mon, lets go get some lunch."

"Ooh, the cafeteria?" Jen asked hopefully.

"You bet, no way I'm wasting money on food that's half as good as the free food," Mu said, "Speaking of money, you need to get a job to work when we're not out on rescues, because the small amount of money we get for each rescue it's enough to live on here."

"I've been thinking of talking to Blaze about it. Do you know if he needs any help in the store?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, he'll be ecstatic to have someone offering to work part-time for him. He'll probably pay you double what other people would," Mu nodded.

"Really?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, he's been working alone there for about five years," Mu nodded. He didn't like to think of why five years was the limit of how long the fire-bender had been working alone, "He'd be glad to get some help."

"I'll have to go talk to him tomorrow about it," Jen nodded happily. They had reached the ladder, and Jen stood aside for Mu to climb up first.

From the top of the ladder they walked to the cafeteria, each picked up a tray from under the heating light, and went to sit down.

"My arm's gonna hurt tomorrow, thanks to you," Mu complained. A purplish bruise was already spreading across his pale skin.

"Go ask Reiki to heal it. You know he'd be more than glad to," Jen said with an attitude of indifference in her voice.

One of the cafeteria doors swung open and Ibis trotted over. His expression was one of great distress, "Mu, there's been another plants protestor."

"Where?" Mu immediately shared the look of unease, "How?"

"Right next to the entrance to the plants. Hanged," Ibis answered.

"What's going on?" Jen questioned.

"Nothing, stay here Jen," Mu said as he stood, leaving his food untouched, to follow Ibis. His voice was stern and left little to no room for argument.

After they had left Jen decided to follow them, to see what was going on.

Over half of the citizens of the city had gathered around the entrance to the power plant.

"All right, everyone go back to whatever you were doing! We'll take care of this," Mu called. His voice projected over the crowd and everyone scattered to reveal a chilling scene.

A citizen of the city was hanging from a noose attached to a small pipe that trailed along the wall. His face was blue and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Below him was a plant worker with one of the belt knives signature to the rescue teams planted deep into his chest.

"It's one of Christy's men," Mu identified the hanging corpses as he raised the ground beneath himself to untie the noose.

"This kid's still alive, Mu. Should I call Reiki?" Ibis asked. He was referring to the stabbed plant worker, "Or should this be his punishment for his crimes?"

"Leave him, it's a lot more merciful than anything Nick would do to him," Mu's eyes were emotionless. They were acting almost as if this were a regular occurrence, "I'm afraid it's too late. I'll tell Christy."

"No, Mu, I'll tell her. Go back to lunch, I'll handle this," Ibis assured.

"I'll go take the bodies to the incinerator," Mu offered, "We can make a marker for him once we learn his name."

"Of course," Ibis nodded.

Mu slung the body of the citizen over his shoulder and turned; he would have to make two trips. He stopped dead, though, when he saw Jen standing there with a horrified expression.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in the cafeteria?" his voice was emotionless and he brushed past her. He just wanted to ignore the look of terror on her face.

Jen walked back to the cafeteria, but a part of her was numb. She thought the city was supposed to be a type of paradise, but what had that been? She wanted to know what had happened.

"Jen, I'm sorry you had to see that," Mu apologized as he sat beside her. He had returned.

"Can I ask what exactly happened?" Jen asked.

"Sometimes workers from the power plants will get fed up with us, and they'll decide to come up here and instead of buying food for themselves and their friends they attack and kill a citizen, usually they get killed by the person they kill or friends of that person," Mu explained, "It hadn't happened for awhile though, so we had been hoping they had settled down. In the past it's been more gruesome, though."

Jen hugged Mu, "I'm so sorry that you've had to get used to this way of living. I'm so so sorry that you've had to live like this."

Mu was surprised by the sudden hug but he smiled and brushed away her concern, "Don't worry about it, I wouldn't change a thing about my life even if I could."

* * *

A/N: So, uh, that got darker than intended at the end, oops. Thanks for reading, please review~


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK.

* * *

Chapter 12

Jen looked at the clock on her phone again, she was tucking her shirt into the hem of her pants as she ran towards the corridor into the first level of the shopping level. She barely dodged a bicycle-riding delivery boy for one of the shops.

"Sorry!" she called as she skidded out of the way. She wore her skinny jeans and her long-sleeved shirt. She hurriedly tied her hair out of her hair and into a ponytail. She nearly tripped over her feet as she rushed down the stairs to Blaze's shop.

"Well, you made it just in time," Blaze greeted her as she opened the door.

"Sorry," she paused to take a few deep, huffing breaths and leaned over to rest her hands on her knees, "Mu kept me too long in training yesterday, I accidentally slept longer than I'd intended to."

"It's fine. Just make sure you show up with enough time to do work and you don't have to worry too much about making it right on time," Blaze assured, "I'm so excited to have someone to help around here again."

"What do you want me to do first?" Jen asked.

"I have some boxes in the storage room that need to be moved out here and unloaded. I'll show you where to put stuff, and then I trust I can leave you on your own?"

"Alright, I don't think I'll mess anything up too badly," Jen nodded.

"The storage closet is over here. Now, whenever you see that we're out of something, you'll need to go to the storage closet. Find a box that has the label of whatever we're out of, if we don't have it get one of those stickers, and then reload the shelf or put the sticker on it," Blaze instructed.

"Alright," Jen nodded. She momentarily wondered where they managed to get all of this stuff, but she decided that would be a question for another time.

"And once you've got everything restocked in here, why don't you come talk to me and I'll give you something else to do," Blaze smiled.

"Okay! I'll try not to mess this up," Jen replied enthusiastically as she went through to look which shelves needed to be restocked. It didn't take her long, not even an hour, to restock the shelves. After she had returned the boxes to the storage room, or to the pile of empty boxes at one corner of the small shop, she went into the back room.

Blaze had a wide broom and was sweeping out the polar bear-dog pin.

"Blaze, I finished restocking. What else do you need me to do?" Jen offered as she leaned against the side of the tall, stone fence.

"Oh! Do you think you could clean some of the cages in the front of the shop?" Blaze asked.

"Of course, uh, is there anything I need to be careful of? Anything specific I need to do for certain cages?" Jen asked.

"No, all of the animals can be left in the cage while you're cleaning. Just be careful, some of them might try to climb out onto you," Blaze said, "And feed the duck-bats."

"What do they eat?" Jen asked.

"There should be a bag of food under their cage. Just fill the bowl in their cage with that. The dustpan, sifter, and trash bags are in the back of the storage closet," Blaze answered. He added the information about the cage cleaning supplies to save Jen some trouble.

"Thanks," Jen hurried back to the front of the store to do as she was told to. This task took her nearly the rest of the day. Cages were stacked high in the front room, and Jen wondered how Blaze got everything cleaned and all of the animals fed on his own. With just twenty minutes left in her shift Jen went back to the back room.

"Oh, hey Jen, can you give me a hand?" Blaze asked.

"Sure, with what?" Jen asked.

"Feeding these guys," Blaze motioned to the many hoofed animals that had been put into the same pin for space reasons.

"Alright," Jen nodded, waiting for instructions.

"Just help me fork these hay bales in there," Blaze handed her a pitchfork and motioned to the bales of straw.

Jen wordlessly set to work, and soon her and Blaze had broken apart the two bales and transferred them into the pin.

"It looks like you're done for today," Blaze said, "And I better not keep you too late, if you're late to training Mu'll kill me. Thanks for all your hard work today, it really lessened my work load."

"Of course! I'll try to get here on time tomorrow," Jen smiled as she turned to leave the shop.

"Just make sure Mu doesn't make you stay out too late training again. If that happens too many times you could start suffering from sleep deprivation. He can go a bit overboard with training," Blaze warned, "See ya."

Jen wasted no time rushing back to her apartment and changing into more suitable clothes. She made her way to the cafeteria; she had half an hour before she had to be to the training grounds.

The cafeteria was empty, as usual, except for Thyme. He sometimes chose to come out of the kitchen and rest in the cafeteria to enjoy his own cooking.

"Hey Jen," he greeted as Jen walked to one of the long tables under a heat lamp and picked up one of the trays of food that was laid out. Another reason many people chose not to eat in the cafeteria was because it had a set menu.

"Hi Thyme," Jen greeted as she took the seat next to him. The usual cuisine of the cafeteria was non-bender type food, it seemed to be something that many of the newcomers took comfort in eating but none of the restaurants in the city served it. Today the meal was a burger, but Jen was fairly certain it wasn't made of cow-pig meat or cow meat, "Has it been slow here today?"

"Yeah, it has. Mu told me you started working for good ol' Blaze today. How was that?" Thyme asked as he took a drink of coffee. Coffee was a staple drink in the city, there was even a small garden sustained by the light coming from the glowing stones that lined the ceiling set aside specifically to grow coffee plants.

"It went really well!" Jen grinned, "Hopefully, if it keeps up like that, I can convince Mu to let me off of training more often to work more hours."

"Good luck with that one," Thyme snorted with poorly contained giggles, "Mu doesn't let people off of training easily."

"I know," Jen nodded. She had personal experience to back that up, "But I can always hope."

"Speaking of which, how has training been going?" Thyme asked.

"Pretty good. Mu says I'm improving and learning a lot faster than most people he's worked with, and I'm learning of lot of helpful stances for whenever we run into catchers on rescues," Jen smiled as she took a bite of mac n' cheese from the small cup on her tray.

"That's good to hear. Maybe you'll be able to protect yourself even better against catchers soon," Thyme smiled. He was usually very easy going around Jen.

"Yeah!" Jen smiled, "And hopefully I'll be able to save more benders, too!"

"I admire everyone on the rescue team, you especially," he admitted rather absentmindedly as he watched a bite of macaroni slip from his fork. It landed back in the small cup of noodles with a small splashing sound.

"Really? Why me though?" Jen asked. She was startled, and shocked, by this statement.

"Because you've worked so hard since you've got here. All you do is work to improve and help people. When I was first brought to the city I became very despondent. In fact, if it had been the same then as it is now, I'd have been sent to the power plains. It took me at least five months before I even thought of leaving the infirmary, even though all of my injuries were completely healed. But you, you were still injured and were forced to work hard and even after you were safe you kept working at it. You kept getting stronger and improving. I can't say a day's gone by when Mu came here for breakfast that he wasn't bragging about you. He always wants to see what you can accomplish in training. You're so resilient, Jen," Thyme explained. He had also been her age when he had been brought to the city, and his injuries had been far less severe than hers.

Jen was blushing brightly, "Really, I'm not that great. I'm just doing what I know can help people."

Thyme smiled and laughed. His laugh was a loud, obnoxious, snorting guffaw that took multiple minutes to calm down, "Mu was right, you're really modest."

Jen blinked and aimed her gaze back at her food. Her cheeks were still a bright shade of pink and she wanted to just say she wasn't anything special but she couldn't bring herself to completely reject the honest compliment.

"Do you want some coffee?" Thyme offered. He normally didn't offer to let people come back to the kitchen, but he felt like he should at least offer.

"No, I gotta go. I need to get to the training grounds or Mu'll have my skin," Jen said as she took her tray to the large rolling trolley that dirty dishes and unfinished food were set on.

"I'll see you, Jen. It was nice talking to you," Thyme waved as he went back to his own meal.

Jen took off running almost as soon as she was out of the door. She had five minutes to run across the city, get down the ladder, and navigate the tunnels to the area where she and Mu trained. She reached the ladder quickly and climbed down at an astonishing speed. By the time she had gotten to the small cavern like area where she was supposed to be it was time for her work to begin.

"Right on time, Jenny. Impressive," Mu grinned.

Jen took a moment to catch her breath before responding, "I'm punctual, as always."

"Alright, let's get started. Do you have any questions about what we worked on yesterday?" Mu asked.

"No, I think I understood everything," Jen nodded.

"Then how about you go through what we were working on yesterday and I'll see if there's anything that needs to be fixed," Mu decided.

Jen nodded as she let herself drop into a horse stance. Over the past few days she had been working on harder, more complicated stances that brought the upper body into the mix. She took a deep breath, allowed her shoulders to rise a bit. She brought her hands up slightly from where they rested, clasped, in front of her abdomen. She freed one of her hands and shoved the palm forward at the same time that she shifted her legs to stretch her corresponding leg out in front of her. Once her arm and leg were as far out as they could go she shifted her weight back onto her unextended leg. At the same time that she did this she lifted her straightened leg so her knee was at a ninety degree angle in a straight line from her hip. Her hand rose with her leg, and she braced for impact as she slammed her foot back to the ground and lowered her hand quickly to match.

"Good, I think you're ready to try it with bending," Mu seemed impressed. Jen never seemed to forget much of what he taught her, and he wondered if she practiced at home.

"Really?!" Jen seemed excited.

"Yes, really. Alright, the purpose of this stance is to simultaneously shake the ground and raise it in a ripple like ring. Take it easy at first, don't wanna bring the roof down on us," Mu explained, "I'll demonstrate, then see what you can do with that."

Jen stood attentively. She hardly blinked as she watched Mu. He moved far faster and with much more force than she had, but she knew that she needed to move lightly and slowly at first to avoid any accidents. Small stones fell from the ceiling as it rattled and the ground rippled up around his foot. The stone had appeared like water, but almost as soon as he had straightened from the stance the ground had returned to it's original smoothness.

"Now you try, but be careful," Mu instructed.

Jen repeated the flowing movements of the stance, but this time she focused on the earth beneath her and above her. As her foot came down the ground trembled lightly and the ground around her spiked up unsteadily before settling down.

"You did well, Jenny. Of course it needs more work, but for your first time trying that you did really well," Mu congratulated.

"Thanks," Jen chirped. The rest of her training session was used to focus on improving her use of the stance.

* * *

Jen fumbled blindly for her phone as it repeatedly buzzed on her bedside table. She pressed the talk button as the phone was halfway to her ear.

"Who's it?" Jen yawned as she felt around for her glasses.

"_It's Mu. I just wanted to call and wish you a happy eighteenth birthday eve_," Mu greeted happily.

"Huh? Birthday? Eighteen?" Jen yawned. She had hardly kept track of the days since she had arrived to the city, and in her sleep muddled state she couldn't even remember her birthdate.

"_Tomorrow's your eighteenth birthday, Jenny! Today, as an early present, we're skipping training. You miss the outside world, right? Blaze told me how much you always talk about missing the weather and stuff so I have a special surprise planned for you,_" Mu answered enthusiastically.

"Wow, a day off of work _and _training. I feel so special," Jen murmured as she rolled over to switch on the lamp on the table wedged between her bed and the one on the other side of her.

"_I also need to talk to you about something. Why don't we meet for breakfast today? How about an hour?_" Mu offered.

"Sure. See you then," Jen responded with a wide yawn. She knew she wouldn't get up unless she did then, so she forced herself out of bed. After she had gotten up she stumbled through the mostly dark room to the bathroom and switched on the bright light.

Her eyes took a moment to adjust, but she was already pulling one of the ratty towels from the cabinet. She switched on the water in the tub, deciding that she deserved a bath for being woken up so early. As the water heated up she washed her face and brushed out her hair. Once the water was warm enough she closed the drain and let the tub begin to fill up. She didn't wait for it to fill all the way before she had stripped out of her clothes and gotten into the shallow tub.

Jen spent about half of the hour in the tub, but didn't take long to get dried off and dressed once she got out. She snatched her phone from the counter and stuffed it in her pocket on the way out.

"Hey Jen," Mu greeted her when she reached the cafeteria. She grabbed a tray of food and walked over to sit beside him.

"Hello," she yawned.

"Happy almost birthday!" he happily announced.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, don't hate me for making you wait to find out what her birthday surprise is. Please review~


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

* * *

Chapter 13

"Hey TNT, do you know where Mu is?" Cais asked as he came down to the main room of their shared apartment.

"Yeah, it's Jen's birthday tomorrow, I assume he's probably trying to think of a way to warn her about it," TNT answered. He was sprawled across the couch playing a game on his phone with an old coffee stirrer hanging from the corner of his mouth. He was absently chewing on the plastic stick.

"Thanks. Do you know where Rusty and Rosy are?" Cais asked.

"Shopping, why?" TNT asked, not taking his eyes away from the screen of his phone.

"I was looking for someone to spar with," Cais sighed as he plopped down on one of the chairs beside the couch, "I'm so bored."

"Then I can't really help you much," TNT responded blankly as he switched the coffee stirrer to the other side of his mouth. He continued to chew on the thin plastic, "You know I'm about as good at fighting as a fly with one wing."

"I know. What about Nobu? Where's he?" Cais asked.

"Sulking somewhere. I wouldn't suggest bothering him," TNT responded.

Cais made a sound half way between a whine, much like the sound an annoyed teenage girl would make when someone said something she didn't agree with, and an angry mutter.

"Why don't you go to the training grounds and see who you can find down there?" TNT suggested.

"Because, usually everyone treats me like I'm made of glass when I do! They think that since I'm so young they have to be careful when fighting me! Everyone on my team knows better," Cais pouted, "I hate it whenever people baby me."

"I don't blame them. You're practically everyone's little brother," TNT pointed out.

"And I hate that! Why can't everyone just treat me like everyone else? It's not like I'm new to the city or anything," Cais mumbled.

"It's because you're so adorable," TNT laughed, "How could someone possibly hurt a face like that?"

"Well, I would if a face like that were the owner of the body throwing a punch at me but they don't seem to care even then," Cais pursed his lips in annoyance and glared at the red eyed fire-bender.

TNT shrugged as he took the coffee stirrer out of his mouth to turn it around and chew on the end that wasn't completely shredded. His attention was slowly drifting back to his phone.

"You're hopeless," Cais groaned as he stood up and walked to the door, "I'm going to Blaze's shop. See you later."

"See you. Be careful not to get hit by a bike," TNT warned. It had happened before to a few of the inhabitants of their apartment, and it was always a laughable topic.

"I think you and Rosy are the only two that's ever happened to," Cais yawned as he opened the door and left. He hadn't slept much the night before, he had stayed up late planning a way to create a secret path to the power plants so he could help one of his friends who had been considered unable to fight the previous year because of a sudden, chronic illness. He hadn't really wanted to spar, he needed to get the twins help to recruit people, he needed to ask Mu for help, and if he was desperate he would turn to Nobuhide for help.

_Don't worry, I'll help all of you. And Click, I'll make sure you all can live up here again, _Cais thought, his expression was determined and set. He had two more people he could ask for help. He started the long walk to where Blaze's shop was. He walked down the flight of stone stairs and opened the door to the shop.

"Oh, hey Cais. What d'you need?" Blaze asked. He set the box of supplies he was carrying down on the ground out of the way.

"I need your help with something," Cais said. His normally playful, joking manner was gone and he was dead serious.

"What?" Blaze could definitely tell the younger fire-bender was serious.

"I need your help convincing someone to help me with something. And then I need your help with that something," Cais paused for a moment before adding, "I can't tell you what it is until I know you're helping me though."

Blaze took a moment to think before he responded, "What are the chances of us getting exiled for this?"

"Pretty high, if it's found out what we're doing," Cais said sheepishly.

"Then I'm sorry, kid. I can't let you do something stupid like that. Tell me what it is," Blaze, before Cais could dash to get help from someone else, locked the door to the store. He wasn't going to let Cais do something dumb enough to get him and a few other people exiled. He had been around Cais for long enough to know that the younger fire-bender definitely wouldn't give up because one person he asked for help refused.

"Please, Blaze, you've gotta help me!" Cais protested.

"Tell me what your plan is and _maybe _we can think of an alternative to what could get us kicked out of the city," Blaze pursed his lips in annoyance at Cais.

"I'm gonna create a passageway from the city to the plants so that people can come and go. I-I saw Click the other day, and he was so skinny. He looked like he was dying. We have to help him and the others," Cais's voice wavered and by the end of his sentence he was practically wailing.

"Calm down, Cais. I know what you mean, I've seen them come up for food too, but we just can't. You know the laws. Nick is in charge of everything, and we can't go against that," Blaze hated to see Cais so upset, but he wasn't going to risk his life of safety. He knew how selfish it would seem to so many other people, but he had learned to value his own life before others. Other people would fade and disappear around him, but he would always have himself and that was what he valued.

"So?! They're all suffering down there while we're all comfortable up here! It's not fair," Cais argued. His voice rose in volume, "Who cares about Nick's stupid rules!"

"Shut up, Cais! Don't say things like that!" Blaze argued back. His voice was rising as well, soon this was going to turn into a shouting match.

"Why shouldn't I?! So what, Nick lost his fiancee, I lost my sister, I lost my teacher, and I lost my best friend on that day! He only lost one person he held dear and he didn't have to watch them die! Why should we treat him so delicately? Why is his word law when he couldn't stay sane after that?!" Cais's voice was also rising in pitch as it did when he shouted too loud.

"Stop talking like that, Cais! Not everyone is as strong as you guys on the rescue team! We listen to Nick because he's our leader, and he hasn't gone insane yet!" Blaze shouted back. He had known Nick since before either of them had discovered they were benders. He had never accepted that Nick had lost it, and as long Nick was alive and leader Blaze would follow him.

"Well he shouldn't be!" tears spilled over and Cais's voice wavered even more, "Our Leader shouldn't be him and you know it! He's not fit to be a leader, he never will be again! He's ruined what used to be a paradise! He took away Click! He took away everyone I had except my team mates and even some of them he got rid of! I hate Nick! I hate him and anyone who sides with him!"

"Nick is the best leader we've had, and he's the best chance we've got of surviving," Blaze lowered his volume, but he could still feel his pulse pounding, "You think you've had it hard, you don't even remember what it was like before the city was built. You were only a newborn then. You didn't have to worry about finding a safe place to sleep, and wondering who would have frozen by the next time you woke up. Who had starved, who had died of disease. If you think that getting to live in this city is hard then I would love to see you survive for a week how it was before we had things arranged here."

"I do know what that's like! I've been on the rescue team for as long as I can remember, and that's what we do every mission! That's not over!" the volume of Cais's voice had dropped slightly too.

"Without Nick, it would still be that way for all of us, Cais," Blaze glared, "But I guess if you want to get yourself banished you're free to." He unlocked the door.

Cais left, he ran to the spot he always went to when he was upset. It had been the place for as long as he could remember. There was a small flight of stairs at the furthest corner of the city from the entrance tunnel. It was a narrow, winding, deep staircase. Light glowed from the bottom, but it wasn't the type of golden glow cast by the glow rocks. It was a delicate blue glow that seemed so comforting. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he yanked open the glass door. One side of the room glowed with red lights. The ceiling was low, and the air was humid and dense. It smelled of warmth, soil, and water.

"Careful about the door!" the only person in the room scolded.

"Sorry Roots," Cais apologized.

"What's wrong?" the boy who spoke, Roots, didn't seem much older than Cais. He might have been fourteen or fifteen, but not much older. Dirt smudged his face, thick spots of mud covered the knees of his pants, and he wore a pair of dirty gardening gloves. His hair was long, it fell past his shoulders but it was pulled back into a pony tail. His bangs were curly and wild, they covered his eyes and obscured his face to the tops of his cheeks from view.

"I just got in a fight with Blaze. I need to calm down a bit," Cais said, waving away the concern of the other boy, "So, anything interesting happen down here recently?"

"Not really. Though I did find a new plant that can be used in place of anti-venom for rattle-viper venom. You should take some with you next rescue," he smiled amiably.

"That's amazing! I'll be sure to take some with us next time," Cais laughed happily.

"Here, I also bred a new color combination for roses!" Roots plucked one of many multi-colored roses from his pocket. The thorns had been skillfully removed, leaving a smooth, harmless stem, "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful. Y'know, I should really bring Jen down here sometime, I bet she'd love it," Cais smiled.

"Oh, would you mind taking this to Christy for me? She said that she wanted to see it when I'd finally bred a lavender colored rose," Roots laughed. For all of the trouble going on in the city he seemed blissfully oblivious to it all.

"Sure, I'm sure she'll think it's beautiful. She'll probably even wear it in her hair," Cais nodded.

"Hm, you said you liked strawberries, right?" Roots asked absentmindedly.

"Yeah, I love them, but I only ever get them when we're out rescuing," Cais agreed.

"Well, I have a few plants with ripe berries, if you want to try them and see if this environment's affected their quality at all," Roots offered.

"I'd love to!" Cais exclaimed.

"I planted them a few months ago, I was gonna wait until your birthday next month to tell you about them, but I don't remember what strawberries are really supposed to taste like so I figured this was just the best course of action. I hope you don't mind that I spoiled the surprise," Roots explained as he led Cais around rows of plants. They reached the strawberry plants. Multiple large, red, ripe berries hung from the pathetically thin stems of the plants, "I haven't had a chance to pick these yet, so we can just go ahead and pick these because they're all ripe. We can wash them off in my kitchen." Roots, since he didn't live in the normal part of the city, was allowed his own kitchen. He provided many of the plants used by the various cooks of the city thanks to the UV lights he used in place of sunlight. He also bred rabbilopes* as food animals.

"Just tell me which berries to pick, and I'd be glad to help," Cais smiled. It wasn't long before the two had gathered all of the berries and washed them.

"So, does it taste like a normal strawberry should?" Roots questioned intently as Cais bit into one of the berries.

"Yeah! It does! It's been so long since I've had strawberries, but these taste even better than the measly little things we've managed to find while we're out. Where'd you get the plants?" Cais nodded eagerly.

"I asked one of my shopkeeper friends for a favor, he snatched them from a gardening store," Roots smiled, "I'm just glad they had some."

"The garden has really been expanding, hasn't it?" Cais asked as he looked around the room. His anger was all but forgotten, as was his plan to help his old friend.

* * *

"Jen, you have to swear you're not gonna tell anyone about this. You can mention it around Reiki and TNT, but you absolutely cannot talk about it around anyone else," Mu spoke seriously. They were standing near the tunnel that led into the city from the exit.

"On my abilities as a bender, I swear I won't tell anyone about this," Jen said, "I will never mention it to anyone."

"Alright, then stand back a few feet," Mu instructed with a smile. After Jen had moved back Mu dropped into a horse stance. With a few slightly more advanced moves he had moved a small portion of the wall to reveal a ladder that disappeared up into a dark passageway.

"What is this?" Jen blinked in surprise as Mu lightly guided her to stand at the base of the ladder. He closed the wall behind him and took out a flashlight.

"Follow me, and be careful because the ground is a bit uneven in here," Mu warned as he climbed up the ladder. Jen followed close behind him. He had completely ignored her question. He walked down the tunnel and took a few sloping, curving tunnels. Finally, he turned off the flashlight. Standing as tall as he could he pushed up on a segment of the ceiling above. With a wooden creak it opened, and natural light spilled into the tunnel. He pulled himself up and offered a hand down to Jen.

Jen's jaw dropped and she stared in wonder at the room. It couldn't have been more than four meters long from one side to the other, and the sloping roof left only about two meters of space from a glass window that stretched across one wall to the lowest point of the other wall. Frost dotted the window, and snow piled up against it, leaving a very small area where someone could look out. The view wasn't great, it was mostly just a sheer cliff and the sky, but it was a glimpse of the outside world from the safety of the city.

"This is incredible," she breathed. Her breathe fogged in the chilly air.

"We never got approved to build this place, but I had TNT help out with it. I know you missed the outside, so I decided that this would be a good place for you to know about. You have to be careful about coming here, though," Mu explained.

"The sky is so beautiful," Jen whispered. Happy tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review~

*cross between a rabbit and an antelope.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK.

* * *

Chapter 14

A loud knock on the door filled Jen's apartment.

"Jus' a minute!" her speech was slurred because she was half asleep, but she dragged herself out of bed and to the stairs despite her exhaustion. The knocking ceased after she had called out to whoever was at the door.

"Good morning, Jenny! Happy birthday!" she was greeted with the happy exclamation. The three who stood at her door were none other than her dearest friends in the city. Mu held out a small, pathetic flower. Cais was offering her a small cupcake that looked as if someone aside from Thyme had tried to make it, and Thyme himself was presenting her with a small mug of steaming coffee.

Jen was rather overwhelmed by this greeting, and only managed to stare with wide, half asleep eyes at the three young men, "Thanks?"

"Well, come on! You need to go to Nick's office to give him the final answer about your residence in this city. Then we've got a surprise for you!" Nick smiled warmly.

"Oh, what if I don't know my answer yet?" the mention of that immediately woke her up and left her completely alert.

"Sorry, Jenny. The law applies for all of us, you're just lucky that you heard about it early," Thyme shook his head, "Though everyone seems to know about the law by the time their eighteenth birthday rolls around."

"Which answer are you leaning to?" Mu asked. He had taken Jen out the day before to discuss the questions that every member of the city was asked on their eighteenth birthday. The city had a law that on the day of a citizen's eighteenth birthday they had to decide if they wanted to live in the city for the rest of their life and only be able to leave by being exiled, or if they wanted to leave the city but never be able to return. There was the third option of going to live in the plants, but not many people ever considered that option.

"I think I'll stay, but if I do I'll never be able to get married or have a family, will I?" conflict filled Jen's eyes. Since she was young she had always imagined some day she would be a mother, but this was the first time the possibility of that being impossible had really come to her thoughts.

Mu thought for a moment before he spoke, "There is a chance that you wouldn't be able to ever be in a real, known relationship, but if the population of women in the city increased it would definitely be possible. It really just depends on how ready you are to take chances. Though, there's no guarantee you'd be able to hide your identity long enough in the non-bending world to start a family. The choice is yours, but you already know what I think you should choose."

"You'd be far safe here than you would anywhere else, Jen. Just remember that, and the fact that you wouldn't be able to return to your old home even if you left," Thyme added.

Jen nodded and fell silent in thought.

"Come on, I'll walk you to Nick's office," Mu offered.

"Thanks," Jen murmured gratefully as she followed behind him. The walk to the office seemed slow, as if time had been slowed down around them. Jen thought hard on the subject, and when Mu stopped outside of the door to Nick's office Jen had decided what her decision would be.

Mu stood by the door and waited nervously. Jen's expression had been particularly troubled when they reached the office, and he thought he knew what her answer was going to be. No matter how much he didn't want it to be the answer. It wasn't more than two or three minutes before Jen left the room.

"I'll be staying," she smiled slightly. She looked as if she already regretted the decision a bit.

"That's great!" Mu practically cheered as he pulled her into a rib crushing hug, "Trust me, you made the right decision, Jen."

"I sure hope so," Jen murmured against his shoulder.

"Alright, now for that surprise we were talking about! Come on, the team's taking you shopping for some new clothes," Mu hooked his arm around Jen's and practically dragged her down the stairs.

* * *

"Well well, Anise, you're looking unwell," Miach spoke in a taunting voice, "What, have you not recovered from your injuries yet?"

The girl who glared daggers back at Miach was terribly thin, with sunken cheeks and eyes. Her hair was dull and knotted. Her skin was ghostly pale and had many thick cuts and scars that marred the delicate, paper thin surface.

"I see, you're still sticking to your vow of silence, even after all this time? I'm almost impressed," Miach's voice was nearly a purr, "You haven't said a single word for five years, have you?"

Anise simply turned her gaze to the concrete floor below her. In areas there were stains of blood from some of her earliest attempts at escape.

"I have a question for you, Anise. There used to be an earth-bender names Jet on the same rescue team as you, am I correct?" Miach crouched in front of the bars of Anise's cell to see if she could get Anise to look at her.

Anise's amber gaze snapped up to meet Miach's harsh, cold blue eyes.

"I see I've gotten your attention now. He was the boy with that ridiculous, girly face, right? My father has mentioned him before," Miach confirmed.

The way Anise's eyes narrowed was enough of an answer for Miach.

"I haven't seen him for a few months, but the last time I saw him was when I shot him. You still think he'll come save you, don't you? Well, I just wanted to let you know that he won't really be able to," Miach knew that the bender she was speaking of was still alive, but she wasn't going to let Anise know that.

Within the span of a few seconds Anise had pulled Miach against the bars by the collar of her shirt. Anger burned in her eyes as she repeatedly slammed Miach into the bars of the cell in a manner that made her face hit one of two bars with each time she was pulled forward to slam into the bars.

"I see you're just as violent as usual," Miach growled and wrenched Anise's hand away. She spit out a bit of blood and rubbed at the dented area on her cheek where she was certain something had broken, "What, you mad I killed your little boyfriend? He really did have it coming, with how many of our catchers he'd killed."

Anise gritted her teeth and reached for Miach's throat. A skeletal hand shakily around the non-bender's neck.

"You're pathetic. To think you used to be the strongest member of any of the rescue teams. You're just a hopeless wreck, now," Miach laughed as she caught Anise's hand and squeezed it so hard that the joints lightly creaked and the bones shifted.

Anise let out a shout of pain.

"I'll go ahead and wait until you've recovered a bit before I try getting any information out of you again. It would be worthless to try, now," Miach let Anise's hand go and turned to walk out of the room that was lined with multiple concrete cells. Her black coat swished lightly with the force that she turned with.

Once Miach was out of the room Anise spoke in a harsh, quiet voice, "I'll kill you, you *****."

* * *

"I'll see you guys when you get back, sorry I can't go with you this time," Cais waved to the departing rescue team. He leaned against Reiki and put almost no weight on his left leg.

"Don't stress yourself about it, Cais. Just focus on getting better, and don't do anything stupid while we're gone. Listen to Reiki," Mu waved in return, "I'll see you when I get back."

"See you, Cais," Jen waved.

"Get better, I'll see you, kid," Ryoichi called down the tunnel.

"I'll see you later," Akio bid farewell.

"See you when I get back," Nobuhide waved with a sideways sweep of his hand and splayed fingers.

"Get better, see you when we get back!" Rusty and Rosy hollered down the tunnel to Cais.

"We'll see you all later. Be safe!" Reiki waved with his free hand.

"See you guys," the group called back. This was usually normal whenever someone came out to see the group off, as they all believed that if they said they would see each other later there would be a higher chance of everyone making it back alive.

The door opened and flooded the dim tunnel with blinding light for a moment, but just as soon it was closed and the group was gone.

"The sky is clear for once, we'll have to be extra careful," Mu observed. The sky was a brilliant blue with not a single cloud in sight. The light that reflected off of the snow was nearly blinding for the group.

"I'll keep our tracks covered, don't worry," Ryoichi volunteered.

"Good. Now let's move, it's not too far from here so we should hurry," Mu took off running.

The group followed while Ryoichi bended the snow back over the prints they left to create a completely clear stretch of snow behind them. The group didn't slow down until they had reached the trees.

"This job is a bit different. There's a camp of catchers near here that a shopkeeper reported yesterday, and they've got benders. Some of us will take the camp, and the rest will go look for the bender we've gotten reports about. Does that sound like a deal?" Mu explained once they had stopped.

Everyone responded with nods. All expressions were serious as they were split up into groups.

"Nobuhide, Rosy, Jen, I'm sure you three can handle finding that bender we got reports about. Here's the information on where she was last seen. Good luck, we'll meet up back here. If we aren't back by tomorrow night then go back without us," Mu commanded.

"We'll see you later, Mu," Jen offered a slight smile as she turned to follow her group deeper into the forest. There they would have more cover to read over the location.

"The camp should be just this way. Come on," Mu led his group. The benders left in his group included Akio, Ryoichi, Rusty, and himself.

They moved quietly, and it wasn't more than ten minutes before they had reached the edge of a clearing that hadn't been there a month before on their last rescue. There were still patches where the ground was almost visible. It was evident that trees had been removed from the ground here.

"You four were much more trouble than you were worth," a catcher spit near where one of the benders was laying. She had been stripped of all of her clothing except a thin undershirt and a pair of shorts. The handcuffs that bound her wrists looked far too tight, and the skin around the metal was frost bitten. The cuffs were staked to the ground.

"Then why are you still keeping us alive? Aren't you supposed to kill benders?" the girl responded in a voice that showed she was very ill. Her shoulders trembled weakly but she didn't bother trying to warm herself up.

"Because, information shows you four are connected to the city," another catcher laughed, "We're taking you in to be tortured!"

"Well, that's your loss," the only male bender of the group gave a harsh laugh. He had been stripped shirtless and was left in nothing but his underpants. One of his eyes was swollen shut and he had a clean cut across one of his shoulders. From how skinny he was it was clear he had been on the run for awhile.

The other two benders were sleeping or simply staring at the unfolding scene with uninterested eyes.

"Just shut up, you two. We'll be free of you and that fifth brat we're bringing in in just a few days," another catcher barely turned his attention from the book he had brought along to read.

"What have I told you boys about talking to these four?" Miach scowled at the three catchers.

"Sorry ma'am! We won't let it happen again," one of the catchers quickly sprang to his feet and bowed in apology.

"Why do we even have to obey this brat? She's half my age?" another catcher groaned in annoyance as he ignored Miach's comment.

"If you three are so bored, I have a job for you. Go make sure that out bait does as she's supposed to," Miach pointed in the direction she had come.

"Yes ma'am!" two of the catchers hurriedly answered and ran off to do as they were told. The third followed a bit more slowly.

"Now, you four just stay put. Though, you don't really have a choice in this matter. I have some business to settle with an old friend," Miach grinned and turned to walk away, but not before she picked up a small package from just inside one of the tents.

"Go find the other team and tell them to be careful, Rusty," Mu mouthed.

Rusty nodded and took off silently to search for the others.

Once Miach had left the campsite far behind Mu motioned for the rest of his team to follow himself.

"Akio, you help me free them," Mu directed, "Ryo, keep an eye open for any of the catchers coming back."

"Who are you guys?" the young man asked.

"We're fellow benders, and we're here to help you," Mu assured as he set to work metal-bending the locks on the cuffs open. Akio helped with the cuffs of two of the benders.

"Here, you look cold," Ryoichi quickly looked away from guarding just long enough to shrug off his coat for the young man.

"Alright, they're all free. Let's go back to the meeting place," Mu said. He took off his own coat and offered it to one of the girls.

Akio offered his coat and the jacket he wore beneath to the other two girls.

"Come with us, guys. We're going to take you to safety. To your new home," Mu said as he began leading the group back to the meeting place.

"Mu, I told the others," Rusty ran over. He had found Jen's group and passed the message on.

Mu nodded in understanding before he said, "Form a guard around these four. Rusty, you take the back, Akio, Ryo, either side will work."

They quickly arranged themselves to protect the four new benders.

* * *

"G-Get away from me!" a young girl cried as she sent a blast of fire towards Jen.

"Hey, hey, easy. I promise I ain't gonna hurt you. I'm just here to help you," Jen promised, "I'm a bender, just like you dear."

The girl backed away from Jen with large, terrified eyes, "I don't believe you!"

"Please, be quiet for just a moment," Jen soothed as she carefully picked up a small rock and pressed it flat with her bare hand, "See? I promise, I just want to get you somewhere safe."

The girl slowly leaned forward.

"There, that's it. Now come on, my friends are just over this way, waiting for us so we can get you to your new home," Jen offered her hand to the girl.

"I'm sorry," the girl whimpered.

"About wh-" Jen was cut off as something forcefully hit the side of her face. It sent her teeth rattling and her head spinning but she immediately snapped her eyes up to meet Miach's cold eyes.

"I'd say it's been almost two months since I saw you last, yes?" Miach hummed as she pulled a knife from a sheath on her belt.

"Actually, it's been closer to three. Of course, I wouldn't expect a dimwit like you to even try keeping track," Jen smirked and wiped a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth. She'd bitten the inside of her cheek open.

"I see you're as rude as ever, Jen. You know, my father always said I shouldn't hang out with you because you were rude. I think I'm finally starting to see what he meant," Miach sneered.

"Well, are we just going to stand here chatting, or are we going to try and settle this grudge?" Jen took a bending stance as she turned to the girl, "Run, that way. You should find help."

The girl took off with wide eyes, hoping to find the help before the catchers could reach her.

"I think this time we shouldn't stop fighting until one of us is dead," Miach said thoughtfully, "What do you say?"

"A fight to the death? Rather cliche, don't you think? I don't want to kill you, though. But I won't let you get that girl," Jen pushed her feet through the snow so she had direct contact with the ground.

"Ever the noble one. Well, we'll see who walks out of this alive," Miach rushed forward without warning. She slashed forward with the knife in her hand, but missed Jen completely.

Jen shot a rock towards Miach's chest, trying to unbalance her.

Miach dodged and moved close enough to Jen to slip a leg behind her own two legs. She pulled the limb forward and sent Jen toppling to the ground. She kicked her in the stomach and hooked her foot under Jen's arm. Using this she dragged Jen to sit up against the trunk of a tree right beside them. She went to stab the knife into Jen's eye, hoping to kill her quickly.

Jen moved a hand up to cover her face, but a flash of light forced her to close her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again she saw Miach clutching at her face.

"What the **** did you just do?! You're not a fire-bender!" Miach screeched as she desperately tried to soothe the pain in her face.

* * *

A/N: Ooooh, cliff hanger, am I right? Also, sorry for skipping an update, I completely forgot I was working on this story.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK or AtLA

* * *

Chapter 15

Jen could only stare at her hands. Her gloves were slightly burnt, a sign of sloppy fire-bending, and she was trembling. She swallowed hard and looked back up at Miach. The catcher was howling in pain, cursing and clutching at her face as she screamed. Immediately, to alleviate the pain, she scooped up a handful of snow and held it to her face. She hissed as it melted against her heated skin. Then, in a sudden, staggering move, she was on Jen. Her weight was enough to pin the shocked girl to the snow.

"I-I don't know what I did. I'm sorry! Please, don't hurt me!" Jen wailed. Her hand hit the ground and brought a spike of stone from the ground. It knocked Miach off of her, and she scrambled away. Her pant legs were soaked through from the snow and it made her skin sting.

"I'll kill you for doing this to me. I'll kill you for burning me like this!" Miach had take up the knife again. This time when she lunged forward she managed to nick Jen's cheek, letting a steady stream of blood form and flow. The red liquid followed the curve of her face and then dripped down her neck. It made her shiver in fear and cold as she staggered back again. She was slammed back when Miach's weight knocked into her. She scrabbled helplessly at the snow as Miach held the knife up and back, then brought it down. The knife drove into her chest in a burst of pain and blood. Her eyes went wide. "Die! Die! DIE!" Miach twisted the knife.

Jen screamed in pain, but blood bubbled up into the back of her throat and stopped the sound halfway. She made a chocking, gurgling sound as she gasped for breath. She was drowning on her own blood as it surged up into her throat.

"Get the **** away from her!" a blast of fire soared through Jen's field of vision as a familiar voice came to her. Miach was knocked away as rocks and fire and ice were hurled at her. A gentle hand on her forehead and soft words told Jen that Rosy was now kneeling next to her. Her vision was quickly dimming, but she was right. It was Rosy. She opened her mouth, trying to say something, but she chocked on blood.

"Easy, Jen. Don't move too much, or talk, you'll make the injuries hurt more," a look of terror and despair was crossing the fire-bender's face. He wasn't ready to lose another teammate or another friend. His hand found hers and he gave it a gentle squeeze. "Just focus on anything else. I promise you won't be hurting for too long. I promise." It seemed that Rosy had taken Cais's place comforting the dying.

She tried to cling onto a bit of consciousness. She wanted to respond. To comfort him somehow. But she couldn't. She couldn't even breathe. She managed a sharp cry of pain when she felt the knife roughly pulled from her chest.

"What are you doing?! She'll bleed out faster this way!" Rosy demanded when one of the benders held at the camp pulled the knife free.

"I can heal her, maybe. I'm not the best, but I can try!" chilly water filled the wound and Jen was jarred by the sensation. She was vaguely aware of a pale blue glow, but then her thoughts couldn't hold on anymore.

* * *

"We took care of that *****, but she got away. How is Jenny?" Mu couldn't see Jen over Cais's shoulder, but he stopped walking when he saw the light of healing.

"Thanks to... to this wonderful young lady, she's alive," Cais's shoulders visibly relaxed as he said this. He looked over his shoulder at Mu, and it was clear that there were tear tracks on his face, "I was worried about our Jen, though."

Getting a closer look at her, Mu announced, "She's lost a lot of blood. We should hurry back to get her, and you four, out of the cold. Now, you, healer, come here."

The girl rose on shaky feet and walked over to Mu. She was shivering. She walked to Mu on unsteady feet. It was another sign of her illness. "Yes?"

"You look freezing, here," Mu offered her a gentle smile, slipping off his coat and offering it to her. He was used to the cold, it wouldn't do him too much harm to be without a jacket until they got back to the city.

With a shaky, trembling hand she accepted the thick coat. It was warm, and she was grateful for it. Having been left in nothing but the thin undershirt she had been wearing when she was discovered left her in terrible condition. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you think you can make it the rest of the way to your new home? It's not that far," he glanced at the two others girls and the boy.

They all nodded.

"All right, now, who's willing to give up their coats?" Mu cast a stern glance towards his team. Immediately, both of the twins stripped our of their coats, offering them to one of the girls and the boy. Cais offered his coat to the girl closer to his stature. "Now, let's get moving. We'll be able to get back by nightfall, if we're careful!"

* * *

Miach held a hand over her eye and the burned portion of her face. From her temple, spreading down like a ray of light, to her jaw was where the burn covered. The skin was peeling and charred. She staggered through the snowy forest, but fell flat on her face into the snow with a cry of pain when her foot caught a fallen branch.

Her breathing was harsh, and she was sobbing. These sounds drew her scattered team, who had been searching for the benders, to her.

"Ma'am, are you all right?" one of them asked in a concerned voice. He helped her roll over and looked at her face in shock. "Oh dear... Your father is gonna kill us..."

"Help me up. We're going back," she snarled. It took two of them to drag her back to her feet. The severe injury had left her physically exhausted, and her bit of a break down had left her mentally exhausted. Reaching into a pocket, her hand curled around a brown paper package. This only seemed to upset her more.

"One of you, take this to those benders... Throw it at them, hand it to them, something. Just get it out of here!" she snapped and thrust the package into the hands of the nearest catcher that wasn't keeping her from falling.

The flustered young man gave a swift nod and took off in the other direction. He returned not a minute later. The group had still been there and he'd managed to toss the package right under Mu's foot.

The trek back to the base where the whole of the catcher team was stationed was slow, but they finally made it. Miach was admitted to the private medical area, due to her father's rank and request.

Oddly enough, the next day the burns, which should have left her bedridden and on the verge of death for days, were only pale scars. There was an air of secrecy to the private medical care facilities. There were rumors that technologies were being developed to mimic the healing that water-benders could do, or some that there were even real healers that had been allowed to live just to heal those put under their care. No one really knew, for sure, at that point.

"We're going back out. We'll set up camp in those woods again, and wait for a team to come by. They'll lead us back to their home," Miach declared coldly.

The catcher who had been walking with her gave her an odd look. They had just returned, after all. They usually took a week or two of rest between each outing. But he didn't dare argue with her. No one dared argue with Miach, except her father. "Yes, ma'am. Do you want the same team as last time?"

"No, you come, but bring the tracking team," Miach commanded, "We leave as soon as possible. Make sure everyone is ready to go within an hour. Anyone who isn't ready can leave the base for good."

"Yes ma'am, I'll make sure everyone is ready on time."

* * *

"Hey, Jenny, wake up," Mu lightly slapped the unconscious girl's cheek.

"Mu, leave her be. She almost died," Reiki scolded. He was carefully bandaging the injured leg of the boy they had rescued from the small camp.

The boy gave a small whimper of pain when Reiki accidentally wrapped a bandage too tightly. "Do they have to be wrapped that tightly?"

"Oh, sorry," Reiki apologized and loosened the bandages. He had been a bit distracted ever since they had brought Jen in. He supposed it just reminded him too much of past events, of not being able to Ayaka, of losing Anise, but he couldn't keep his thoughts off of the injured fire-bender.

"Reiki, let me finish helping everyone," Cais said. He was still having to balance his weight on a crutch, but he was already standing to come over and help the water-bender.

"No, Cais, sit down. I can handle it. You need to rest your leg," Reiki quickly scolded the other. He returned to bandaging up the last of the boy's injuries. Once he was done, he clapped his hands together, and in a light voice, said, "Well then, now that all of your injuries are taken care of, let's hear all of your names. Share a bit about yourselves, if you want to."

Everyone's injuries had illnesses had indeed been treated. The young girl who had fallen ill seemed to be a bit better, after getting out of the cold and being given a breathing treatment. The ill girl was the very first to speak up. Her skin was a shade or two darker than Reiki's, and her hair was pitch black. After drawing in a slightly pained breath, she said, "I'm Carol. I'm a healer, and I've been with the other four you rescued for three months."

The next to speak up was the boy. He was currently laying flat on his back with his leg propped up on two pillows. "I'm Jay. I've been on the run for almost a year. I'm an earth-bender."

The little fire-bender who had been used as bait spoke up next. She spoke in a faint, mousy tone. "I'm Chelsy. I was the one that got us captured by catchers... Because I'm too slow."

The healthiest of the five who sat on the bed next to Chelsy's reached over to give the girl a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Hey, that's not true. You didn't see them, neither did we."

Chelsy still seemed unconvinced. She had been blaming herself for everything since she had been brought back.

"I'm Ray, I'm an air-bender, and I'm not really very useful to anyone with my current level of skills," the healthy one introduced herself. Her head was half-shaved and her normal hair was dyed hot pink and spiked up. "And our sleeping beauty is my sister Karen, she's an air-bender like me."

The fifth of the rescued benders was unconscious in the bed she was placed in, but her injuries were treated. The girl was only exhausted. Her hair was far more tame than her sister's, with only the ends dyed a light blue, the rest had been bleached.

"It's lovely to meet all of you. We'll do our best to welcome you all into the city," Reiki smiled. "I'm the city's healer, and my name is Reiki. If you ever need anything, come to me and I'll do my best to help you."

"I'm Mu, I'm in charge of the rescue team, and this is my team," Mu motioned to the others in the room to introduce themselves.

"I'm Nobuhide," his answer was gruff.

"Call me Akio," he spoke in a friendly tone.

"I'm Ryoichi, but you can call me Ryo if it's a bit easier to pronounce," he offered a smile.

"I'm Cais," he waved from where he sat on his bed.

"We're Rusty and Rosy," the twins introduced each other.

"This is Jen, but she's unconscious, if you couldn't tell," Mu introduced Jen.

"No... 'M not..." Jen grumbled. Her eyes were squinted open and she looked around the room. Her breathing was still shallow and she looked unwell, but she was awake enough to offer Mu a glare. "Don'... Slap me again."

"This is Jen, apparently she woke up," Mu reintroduced with a snicker. Seeing his student awake, and seeing she was well enough to be annoyed with him, wiped the worry away from his visage entirely.

"There you have it, everyone. This is the team. Hopefully everyone can get along well," Rosy smiled, "Well, I have things to do. Get well soon, everyone."

Soon, everyone who wasn't being held in the infirmary left.

"Jen, how are you feeling? Is there any pain?" Reiki asked the young woman.

"No, considering I just about died. Just feel a bit weak. And cold," she said softly. She wanted to go back to sleep. "I bet. Well, get some sleep. I'll have food for you when you wake up."

The doors to the single-room clinic swung open and in waltzed Thyme with multiple plates of food balanced on bubbles of gyrating air. "I brought some food for out new arrivals. If any of you have diet specifications you need met, tell me." He made sure all of the conscious benders got food.

"Thyme, since she's asleep can I have her food?" Jen had been about to go to sleep herself, but the promise of Thyme's cooking had her awake again. The food smelled delicious and she didn't wanna give up the chance to eat some.

"If Reiki says you're okay to eat now, then I don't see why not. Reiki?" Thyme was happy to see her okay. He'd been worried when he'd first heard she was unwell.

"Yeah, she's fine to eat," Reiki nodded, "Okay, if any of you need anything, just holler 'Reiki' or 'Stupid healer' or something. I need to get a bit of sleep." And with as much grace as a drunken elephant he flopped onto his cot hidden between the furthest bed from the door and the wall.

"You all are quite strange, if I do say so, myself," Ray mused quietly as she took a bite of her food, "But It's good to be out of the cold and have some good food. I was getting tired of eating charred fish. No offense, Chelsy, you did a great job of cooking it enough to keep us from getting sick, I just hate fish."

"You all are ridiculous," Carol wheezed when Chelsy rolled her eyes. Carol seemed to be enjoying the food even though she had to eat slowly to avoid choking.

Jay was all but ravenous as he scarfed down his food. He probably shouldn't have eaten as quickly as he did, though, because no sooner had he finished eating had he begun to look unwell. He groaned softly and lay down, "I'm going to sleep. Thanks for the food man, it was awesome."

"You're very welcome. I do hope you liked it, because as long as you live here, I will gladly make free food for you," Thyme bowed his head respectfully in thanks as he took one of the plates and waited for everyone else to finish eating. He chose to go sit by Jen as she ate. They chatted a bit, but half way through eating she decided she was too tired to finish eating and he left her be to sleep.

Once he had collected all of the plates he went to leave. Reiki told him to turn off the lights in a half-asleep voice, and Thyme complied.

It seemed everyone was resting, but Jen couldn't stop thinking about one thing. She had fire-bent.

* * *

A/N: I am SO sorry for the long wait on this, guys! I had to rewrite this chapter because after a long spell of writer's block and heartbreak (no worries, stuff is resolved, just lost some very dear pets) but I finally got it done and I am back in business! Thank you so much for sticking with me! Also, sorry, this chapter isn't proofed 0/0 If I could get a beta for this story, that would be helpful. Any of you willing?


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK.

* * *

Chapter 16

Jen stumbled clumsily through the few fire-bending motions she had learned from watching Cais or TNT spar occasionally. She'd found a nice, isolated corner of the training grounds and was seeing if maybe she could fire-bend again. It had happened once, after all. She couldn't think of any other explanation for what had occurred when she'd been cornered by Miach.

"Jen, you know those aren't earth-bending movements, right?" TNT asked from the entrance to the small chamber of the expansive grounds.

Jen jumped in surprise at his words, turning on her heel to look at him before she answered, quite indignant, "Of course I know that. I'm not stupid! I just wanted to see what it would be like to learn fire-bending! Of course I'm not crazy enough to think I can fire-bend."

TNT's normally half-sane eyes widened in surprise at her sudden outburst, "You okay, Jenny? Didn't mean to upset you." It seemed Mu had managed to get the others to pick up his nickname for her.

"You didn't, just leave me alone," Jen didn't want anyone bothering her about what she was doing, least of all a fire-bender.

"You know you're doing that wrong though, right?" TNT pointed out, not moving from the place he had chosen.

"Doing what wrong?" Jen asked.

"Those movements. You're treating them like earth-bending movements," TNT motioned in her general direction with an indifferent shrug.

"I am? Do you think you can help me with that?" Jen asked. It amazed her that she wasn't letting herself be too prideful to ask for help. Being in the city had certainly changed her. Maybe it was even for the better.

"I mean, sure? Still don't see why you even wanna learn 'em, but I'll help ya," TNT nodded, his eyes for once seemed to lack that distant look they normally held, "You just gotta move a bit more freely. Don't think about anything Mu's taught you before about bending motions. Fire-bending is a lot more free, don't keep your feet planted like that. Though, the motions would still need just as much force behind them, since it's not water-bending or air-bending." With his last sentence, his voice grew rather distant and his eyes regained their look of distance as if he were trying to figure out how to properly explain it.

"Oh... So let them flow more?" Jen supposed she had been using rather harsh, jointed, mechanical movements. She really was an earth-bender at heart; just like Mu always said. Trying again, she let herself do the most basic motion she had seen and tried to keep her feet light and let them move with the rest of her.

"Almost. You're just doing that motion wrong, though. It should be like this," TNT demonstrated, letting a small spark of flame hop away from his fist as he did so.

"So, this arm is like this..." Jen said thoughtfully as she tried to copy the movement he had just done. This time when her arm went forward, a searing surge of flames blossomed from in front of her knuckles. This startled Jen, caused her to stumbled back, losing her footing on the uneven stony ground and falling to the ground to land on her butt.

"Did you just fire-bend," TNT's eyes had gone wide, the usual crazed look that filled them when he saw fire was present for a moment before he turned his creepily red eyes on Jen from where they'd rested on the spot the fire had been, "Do you know what this means? You can bend two elements! Come with me, come come come, right now." He caught her wrist, dragging her towards the ladder.

Jen stumbled after him. She had a vague idea of what it meant that she could bend two elements, but she didn't particularly want to think about it at the moment. She didn't want to be the Avatar, the Avatar was supposed to do great things and save so many people and the world, and she wasn't that good at doing anything. She had always been average, and she wasn't ready to take on responsibility for all of the rest of the benders, because she knew that's what would happen, "TNT, I think it was just a trick of the lights, please let me go. It was nothing!"

"Jen, that wasn't a trick of the light, we're just gonna go talk to Nick for a few minutes, okay?" TNT didn't loosen his hand on her wrist. This was the most serious Jen had ever seen him and it terrified her to no ends.

She eventually just let herself follow behind him, occasionally trying helplessly to drag her heels and slow him down, but working on the destruction and construction team had greatly strengthened his arms and legs and made him almost impossible to slow down. When he had somewhere he needed or wanted to be and had to encouragement to be somewhere almost nothing could stop him.

They'd reached the ladder, and TNT motioned for Jen to climb up. It didn't take nearly as much time for Jen to climb as it used to, not since she'd been in the training area so much. She scaled the vertical ladder and climbed out of the exit; she waited for TNT to climb up.

"I'll go get Mu, you go to Nick's office," TNT said.

Jen could only openly gape at him as he walked off in the direction of his apartment. She could only assume his telling her to go on her own mean that he trusted her and she just didn't understand that. She'd not been there even a fourth as long as everyone on her team, even though it had been over half a year, but someone not even of her team trusted her enough not to bolt for freedom. In a sense, it seemed he might have been trying to guilt her. She couldn't just betray that trust he was giving. She had to go and show him that his trust was well placed, even if the thought of seeing Nick, and having to be in the same room as Mu _and _Nick, made her insides crawl with fear and displeasure. She walked in the direction of the tallest building in the center of the city. It always cast an intimidating shadow on the grounds around it, and now was no exception. Jen walked into the building, and was greeted by Hien. She'd briefly met the disabled air-bender before.

"Oh yeah, your name is Jen, right? So, whatcha doing here?" Hien asked, he was looking at an old computer screen and didn't look up for more than a second to confront the other.

"I need to talk to Nick. Uhm, TNT will explain the situation when he gets here," Jen said awkwardly. For once she wished she could shrink away and hide, or better yet just disappear from the situation completely. She usually exuded confidence and oozed arrogance but not now. Now she shied meekly towards the wall. She was glad when TNT and Mu got there. But something seemed off. Mu seemed upset; Jen had seen him said and heartbroken, but the look in his eyes was one of pure hatred and rage and she had only ever seen a look like that directed at one person and it had never been her.

TNT explained the situation to Hien, who immediately granted them permission up the stairs to Nick's office. When Jen hesitated a bit in going towards the stairs Mu hardly caught her upper arm in a bruising grip and dragged her up the stairs. Jen stumbled behind the two senior benders.

When they reached the door to Mu's office, TNT knocked and waited for the okay to open the door and walk in, holding it for the other two to pass.

"What do you want?" Nick was looking over something, and Nobuhide was sitting on the edge of his desk looking both annoyed and bored.

"Nick, I've just found the Avatar. This ***** has been tricking us this whole time. TNT just saw her fire-bend," Mu was practically fuming, and his fingers dug into Jen's arm with a force that would leave nail-imprints and a bruise.

"Mu, you think I knew I was a fire-bender? No! I didn't!" Jen pulled her arm away, moving to punch him. Her reflexes, especially in defensive situations such as this, had gotten far better. She could pack a nasty punch, and this was the first time Mu was on the receiving end of one. Her fist made contact with his jaw and caused his head to snap to the side. Without missing a beat, Jen kicked her leg out to sweep his legs out from under him. "How dare you accuse me of lying! I'm just as frustrated as you are with this, and I'm terrified!" She dropped to nail him in the stomach with a knee.

Mu had never realized how strong she was when she was serious about fighting, and each of her hits left him a bit shaken. When she finally let up a bit, he glared up at her. Using his larger weight his knocked her off of himself. He was about to pin and punch her when a pair of arms snaked under his own and lifted him off of the ground.

TNT could barely hold Mu up when he let his legs go limp in an attempt escape him.

"Jen, are you all right?" he asked in a strained voice as he dropped to the ground with Mu to restrain him further, pinning his arms to his sides. He had long since learned to show more concern for someone who started violence in defense against threats or anger than for the one who had started it all.

Jen didn't bother answering. In fact, she didn't bother staying. She left at a running pace. She ran down the precarious stairs, and slipped close to the bottom. As soon as she regained her footing on the ground she was running again. She didn't know where she was going at first, but soon enough it became obvious she was running to the shopping district. The door to Blaze's shop opened and slammed shut as she ran inside. It sent the animals into a frenzy, but she didn't care. She went to a back hallway that only close friends of Blaze knew of, and knocked on the door at the end of the hidden passage.

There was the sound of something, or more accurately someone, shifting about inside the room. It was a few minutes before the door was opened, and there stood Blaze, who looked like he had just woken up. "Huh... Jen? You don't need to work for a few more-" He was cut off as Jen hugged him suddenly and tightly.

With a chocked out sob, she said, "I'm sorry I woke you up, but can I come in? Please?"

Blaze immediately grew serious, waking up a bit more. He moved aside, opening the door fully for her to enter the small room he called home. There was a small bed, a small stove, a sofa, a bookshelf, and a battery powered television, "Of course."

Jen walked shakily into the room. She wiped at her eyes, and finally she collapsed onto the couch. Her arm hurt where Mu had dragged her up the stairs.

"What happened, Jenny?" Blaze asked softly as he sat down beside her. He sat on the very edge of the couch, giving her space if she needed it. She proved she didn't when she threw her arms around him and buried her face against his shoulder. He gently her her hair in a calming manner with one hand, patting her shoulder with the other.

"M-Mu said I was lying. He ha-ates me! He thinks I-I didn't tel-ll him I was the Avat-tar on purpose," she wailed. Her arms tightened slightly around the male who had become much like a new father figure to her. Blaze was ever patient with her, and he was always ready to cheer her up with jokes, or even bring one of the animals to see her when she was injured and couldn't make it to work.

At the mention of the Avatar, Blaze's eyes went a bit wide. He put that fact aside in his thoughts for awhile as he continued trying to calm her down. "Mu doesn't hate anyone except Nick and catchers. He's probably just a bit mad about whatever it is."

Jen pulled her head away from his shoulder to look up at him with watery eyes. She got her breathing under control. She wiped at her cheeks to clear away the tears, and finally said, "Would you... Would you hate me... If I was the Avatar?"

"'Course not, I'd just make sure you weren't being overworked because everyone expected too much from you," he smiled, ruffling her hair.

Jen never admitted it to anyone, but she had always wanted an older sibling, someone to look up to besides her parents, and now, she had possibly found the closest thing she would ever get. Blaze always seemed to be careful about caring for her, and that meant the world to her. Before she had been discovered as a bender she had always been pushed to her limits in school and no one ever seemed to guess she was slowly breaking. Now she had someone taking care of her before she even reached that point. "Thank you. I promise, I didn't know I was the Avatar."

"I know. You wouldn't be this upset if you were lying," Blaze said, "And if Mu got mad at you, then he's way out of line. I'll have to give him a good talking to, later, because it seems at this point I'm the only one he listens to. Jen, there's no reason anyone here should hate you. Don't worry, Mu gets like this sometimes, even with Cais. You're surely not the first he has proclaimed to hate and gotten in a fight with. Hell, he's even made Reiki mad enough to throw a punch, and that kid's like a saint! Sorry, I got a bit sidetracked, but do you see my point?"

Jen nodded. She gave a small sniff and wiped at her nose; it was dripping and she sounded congested.

"Here, let me get you tissue. You sound like you need to blow your nose before your head explodes. It's no good, you look so sad when you sob like that. It's not good when you look sad," Blaze carefully got up and got a box of tissues to hand to her.

Jen carefully pulled a square of soft paper from the box. She blew her nose, then used the unused edge of the paper to wipe at her eyes and cheeks to get the rest of her tears off. She took another tissue and blew her nose again. Crying as she had would probably give her a terrible headache.

"Need some pain medication or anything? I know crying like that can give you a killer headache," Blaze definitely knew that fact. He knew it too well. There was a medicine cabinet in the corner of the room, and it was always locked, only to be accessed by a key in his bedside table. He was afraid some of the animals might get into his room and find ways into the little cabinet. After retrieving the key, he opened it and got out a bottle of ibuprofen. He decided to give her a small dose, so he carefully shook two pills out of the bottle before recapping it and returning it to the cabinet. He got her some water from the sink and handed her the little plastic cup and the two pills.

"Thank you," Jen accepted the pills and the cup. She took the pills and drank the rest of the water. Crying had left her mouth feeling like it was stuffed with cotton.

"I have a cold bottle of water, if you want it. The tap water down here tastes a bit odd," he offered. His room was equipped with a small kitchen, it even had a mini fridge.

"Yes, please," she nodded. The water did have a metallic taste that she didn't much care for. She felt sleepy now, from how hard she had been crying. Her eyelids drooped a bit.

"How about I walk you back to your apartment? That one girl was released from the infirmary yesterday, right? She can keep an eye on you to make sure you're really all right," he offered. He didn't necessarily worry too much for her mental state, but he didn't trust her to get back on her own. He was probably being paranoid, he told himself, but he would rather walk her and make sure she was safe.

"No, I can make it just fine on my own... I have to stop and get some things for Chelsy anyways. I wouldn't want to burden you into going shopping with me," she wiped at her eyes one more time. Her face was splotched red and her eyes were pink and swollen from her recent tears. Her voice was already beginning to sound stuffed up.

"If you're sure you'll be okay. If you run into anymore trouble with any of the others, I would be more than happy to offer you a bit of help. Cais will likely be sympathetic to you, maybe Thyme or Reiki would be kind to you, too." Blaze had been caught in many arguments before and had found who would generally be sympathetic, especially to someone who had fallen to Mu's temper. It wasn't unusual for him to get into squabbles or bickering matches that led to fist fights. Having a city of hot-headed teenagers underground wasn't always a good thing for such reasons.

"Thank you, Blaze. You've been far to kind to me," Jen offered him a small smile.

"You're like a little sister to me, it's my job to keep you safe," he offered her a beaming grin and ruffled her dark hair.

"I should probably get going, now. I was supposed to be home a long while ago, and I still need to go shopping. I really owe you, for helping me again," she hugged him and left. She was so grateful for his presence and company in the city.

"Just make sure you're not late for work, and all debts are repaid," he assured. He watched her leave, going through the shop to the door. He worried for her more than he should, but she reminded him of so many friends he had lost.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK or AtLA

* * *

Chapter 17

Jen was still a bit spaced out from getting so upset, so it didn't come as much of a surprise that she would accidentally bump into a few people in the crowded market area. What she didn't expect was for someone to punch her in the face for it. Jen gave a start and stumbled back.

"Watch where the **** you're going, you scumbag!" the boy who snapped at her looked different than most of the benders from the city. He was even paler, and he was scrawny. His eyes held nothing but bitter hate and anger. Clinging to the sleeve of the arm that wasn't raised from punching Jen was a little girl. She didn't even reach his elbows, and she didn't look like she couldn't be older than four or five. She had watery eyes and wore a medical mask over her mouth and nose. She was shaking like a leaf, and her eyes, disturbingly familiar, looked at Jen in a wide, almost terrified way.

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you," Jen apologized softly, "Neither of you are hurt are-"

"Like you would care. For all I care, everyone one of you in the upper levels of this city should die," he growled under his breath.

It took Jen a minute to connect the dots, but when she did her eyes widened. The two were from the power plants.

"Come on, we need to finish shopping," he dragged the girl away.

She followed him like a stray puppy, still clinging to his sleeve. Jen noticed her eyes stayed trained on the only bakery and candy shop in the city.

"Hey! Uh, I'll buy her something from there, if she wants," Jen called.

"We don't need your pity!" the boy snapped, but when his young companion lightly pulled on his sleeve, he sighed. "Sure, whatever, just don't expect us to thank you for it! You're still trash, just like everyone else here!" His expression softened when the girl hesitantly tugged on his sleeve and looked between him and Jen. He gave her a nod, and she let go to dash over to Jen. She clung to the hem of Jen's shirt like it was a life line.

The little girl looked so overwhelmed by everything in the shop, that eventually Jen ended up getting her two cookies and two small packs of taffy and hard candies. When the boy wasn't looking, she kneeled down to be on eye level with the girl, "Here, use this to make sure everyone down there gets some food." She pressed half of the money from her wallet into the girl's palm. She had to keep enough to buy Chelsy some things, but the rest she could easily live without, thanks to the nature of the city's money system.

For a moment, the girl seemed to gape at her, and when she next moved, she pulled her little mask down to reveal a snaggletoothed smile. "Thank you!" She immediately pulled the mask back up and then ran over to the boy she had been with.

Jen stood up and left to do the shopping she needed to.

* * *

"Hey, Chelsy, I'm here to take you to your new apartment," Jen smiled at the girl.

"I can't believe she's getting out before me!" Ray whined.

"Yes, well, maybe if you hadn't tried to sneak out you wouldn't have turned your ankle," Reiki scolded in that way only he could manage, seeming both kind and disappointed at the same time.

She pouted and crossed her arms. She looked like a petulant child with the way she was sulking.

Carol gave a wheezing laugh, "I'll see you in a few days Chelsy."

"See you, Carol," the girl waved excitedly. None of the new arrivals knew of the power plants, yet. Chelsy trailed after Jen like an excited puppy. She babbled on and on, seeming far more talkative than she had the first few days. Jen was glad to see her recovering so nicely.

"All right, all right, I haven't had enough coffee today, so slow down," Jen joked and gave Chelsy's hair a ruffle, "Here's your new home. You'll be sharing the place with me, and eventually the other girls."

"Wow! There's so much room!" Chelsy looked around the spacious living room in awe. "It's so cool!"

"I'm glad you like it, kiddo. Upstairs is where our room is. Please stick to the next floor up only, though. Nothing else is cleaned and it might be dangerous," Jen warned as she closed the door behind them, "You can choose any bed except for the one with the backpack on it. And be careful going up the stairs."

Chelsy was already scampering up the stairs. Jen followed her to see she had claimed the bed closest to the bathroom. "Does anyone else live in here?"

"No, I'm afraid not. The only other girl in the city didn't wanna live here. But now it won't be nearly as lonely, with you all," Jen had been fighting down a bad feeling she had about them. She was afraid they would all be sent down to the plants and the small hope she had for companionship would be crushed. With a soft sigh, she plopped onto her own bed. She'd not had a chance to ask Reiki to heal with two welts on her cheek. One was from the forceful hit she'd gotten from Mu, and the other was from the boy she had met on the way to the bakery.

"So you've been here all alone? For how long?" Chelsy asked. She was sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed. Despite Jen's exhausted demeanor, Chelsy seemed ready to talk and chatter until the end of time.

"Since I got here. About one, maybe two years ago?" Jen hadn't really kept count. She was about to turn twenty, so she guessed it would have been closer to two years. "I was one of two girls here until you all got brought in. It's been a wild ride, let me tell you. Though, it's at least nice that guys won't flip out if I walk around without a shirt when it gets too hot. They think it's just the same as if they were to do it." Jen was far too modest to do that, though she had worn tops that wouldn't have been acceptable in the outside world before on especially bad days. Having so many people in the underground area with the heat and light producing stones that allowed light to live by left things getting very hot and muggy.

"Wow, it's just been you in here for two years? Doesn't this house get creepy?" Chelsy asked.

"Yeah, it can get rather scary, especially when I have nightmares, but I've always been able to call one of my friends and talk with them or have them come over until I calm down. Enough of them are mad at me now, though, I don't think that'll happen for awhile. My boss would probably be more than happy to help, but I already trouble him enough."

"Your boss? You mean Mu or whatever his name is?" Chelsy had only gotten to know Jen, Cais, and Rosy well, as they had been the only three from the team to visit her constantly.

"No, he's just the team leader. I have a job in the shopping district, but I guess you haven't been down there, before. My boss is named Blaze, he's kinda a recluse, but he's really friendly once you get to know him. He's like a big brother to me," she smiled.

"Oh! What kind of store does he own?" Chelsy asked.

"He owns a pet store. Maybe I'll take you down there, sometime. I'm sure he'd love to meet you," she smiled at the younger girl. "Now, not meaning to seem anti-social myself, but I've had a long day. I think I'm going to get some sleep. There's some books downstairs, and an old DVD player with some movies, if you want to watch something. Just be careful not to get into trouble."

"I think I'm going to sleep, too. It was hard to sleep in the infirmary because the others always wanted to talk when they were awake," Chelsy chattered on as she lay down on her own bed and burrowed under the freshly cleaned covers. Jen had been certain to clean everything for the arrival of her new roommates.

"Rest well, then," Jen offered her a sweet smile. As soon as she had turned out the lights and went back to her bed she seemed content. The room was chilly, for once, and she burrowed herself under the two blankets on her bed. They smelled nice, like the fresh smelling soap she had used to clean them. Her body seemed to relax and some of the tension that the day had brought faded. When she finally fell asleep, it was to a peaceful, calm feeling.

* * *

"Think she ran away?" TNT asked thoughtfully. He was leaned against the wall beside the door to the women's apartments. Mu had spent the past few minutes knocking on the door. He'd really meant no harm by telling Nick and Mu about what Jen had done, in fact he was so excited that she could help them that he'd not thought of it.

"****, I shouldn't have said what I did, to her. I'm the worst," Mu muttered as he knocked on the door again. "Hey, Jenny, look, I'm sorry, but Nick needs to talk to you!" He fidgeted, tugging at the lobe of his ear. It was an odd habit he had, usually only in situations such as their current one.

Finally, the door cracked open just enough for Jen to peek out. Softly, she asked, "What do you want?"

"First, I came to apologize for what I did and said earlier. I am so, so sorry about that all. Second, Nick wants to see you. You're not in any trouble, but he wants to discuss training for you in the other elements," Mu explained.

"How do I know you're not just getting on the traitor's good side?" she muttered bitterly. She went to close the door, but Mu stuck his foot into the space before it could close.

"I don't know how I can prove myself to you, or if I can ever make up what I did, but I really do feel bad, Jen," he said softly. His voice was sincere, and his eyes were soft and guilty. His sharp, feminine features all seemed to hold hints of guilt to them, "I'll find a way to make it up to you, Jen. I promise I will."

"And what if I said I didn't want to train as the Avatar. What if I wanted to perfect earth-bending completely, first?" she was almost acting petulant, now. She had clearly forgiven him, by her acknowledgement of his second point. Really, though, she didn't want to see Nick, especially not after what had happened. She had always had an especial hatred for the leader of the city.

"Then we'll both have to say too bad. Nick's not in a good mood, and I'm sure you've realized that it's not a good idea to go against him even when he's in a good mood," Mu said. "But, if it makes it easier, we'll try to work some things out with him. But at least come with us so he doesn't get more angry than he already is."

"Fine, give me a second to go tell Chelsy where I'm going," Jen finally caved. She waited for Mu to withdraw his foot so she could close the door. A few moments later, she came back down and walked outside completely. "Just so you know, the bother of you owe me for what happened. I'll make sure you make it up to me some day, one way or another."

"We will, we promise," Mu nodded, "But for now, we should hurry. Nick was already really P.O.'d when we were coming here. Don't want him being even more upset." And with that, Mu took off walking, with his long strides, in the direction of the building. Jen had to jog to keep up with the two taller males. TNT was only a couple of inches taller than her, but much of his height was in his legs. Mu was at least five inches taller than her, now, and it took three of her own normal strides to match one of his.

Jen was huffing and out of breath by the time they got to the bottom floor of the tower. Her body was still recovering from her injury, even though it had been healed well, and she had to take a second to catch her breath before she was practically being dragged up the stairs by the two. It was in a bit more friendly of a manner this time, though, and it was mostly helpful.

Nick's office was guarded as usual, but they were allowed in as soon as they were seen coming up the stairs.

Nick and Nobuhide were talking, again, but this time Nick looked quite upset with the younger. He was more than happy to have a reason for kicking his "favorite" student out when Mu got there.

"Now, I must apologize for earlier happenings, but we need to get down to business now. How quickly do you think you can master all of the elements, Jen?" Nick asked without pause or introduction.

"Well, I don't know. I have enough trouble with earth-bending, as is. I was wondering if-"

"No, you may not have longer! We'll start you with fire-bending and water-bending as soon as we can. I'm sure TNT would be more than willing to teach you," he cut her off, "As for air-bending, we need a bit more time to arrange that for you. We don't have many experienced air-benders in the city willing to take on students. As for your water-bending teacher, I'm sure Ryoichi wouldn't mind. Or Christy. Now, you're free to go. I'm working out a schedule that Blaze can fit with your work hours and your current training with Mu."

Jen wanted to ask how it was fair to push all of this at her at once. She was only one person, and with rescues, too, she didn't think she would be able to manage. She kept her mouth closed, though, and simply listened to the explanation given to her. Since she was dismissed, she gave a nod and left. Only when they were back on the first level did she say anything. "How does he think I can handle this?!"

"Because you have to. We've all learned to adapt, it's just part of the city," Mu gave a small, half-sympathetic shrug. He'd have afforded her more sympathy had it been able to do her any good. In reality, it would only serve to cause him unnecessary stress.

Jen looked about ready to pull her own hair out. She couldn't handle it all! She barely had enough energy to function at the moment, as it was. She managed to keep herself quiet, though. She just offered a forced exhale and closed her eyes.

"Hey, how about we go to the cafeteria, to make up for this?" Mu offered, "I need to go see Jay after this, anyways. You can come say hi to the others, too." He seemed to be trying to make up for what he had done, but his tone was cautious. He was watching what he said to the extent he was almost terrified to talk to her.

"You two will still owe me. But it's a start," Jen let her words halt quickly. They didn't hold their normal, friendly tone. Her eyes were also cold and only warmed a bit more when they landed on TNT.

"I know, we'll do what we can," Mu nodded. He walked with her and TNT to the cafeteria. When they got there, he held the door open for the both of them. As usual, Thyme was lazing around. It seemed there was no one in there at the moment.

"Oh, hey there, you three! How've you been?" Thyme asked, pushing himself up from where he'd been resting his chin on the table.

"Things have been eventful," Mu only offered this and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Hey! Hey, Mu, you know my rule about the kitchen!" Thyme called after him and chased the dark-haired earth-bender into the kitchen. A few seconds later he chased Mu out, whacking him with, of all things, a whisk. "Shoo, stay away from my kitchen!"

"I was just going to make myself a cup of coffee," Mu scowled, sorely rubbing a spot on the back of his neck where the metal whisk had struck bare flesh. There was already a fine, red mark forming.

"You ask first, you got that? Unless I'm in there, you ask me before you go in my kitchen!" Thyme was strict about that rule with everyone. Jen hadn't ever been into the kitchen, with his permission or without, so she had managed to escape the assault with various kitchen utensils.

"Yeah, yeah, can I go make myself a cup of coffee, now?" he drew his hand away from the mark on his neck and looked at his fingers to check if there was any blood drawn from the stinging mark. Thankfully, his hand came back dry.

"Yes, but just remember, I won't ever go easy on you in that aspect. The only time someone will ever be able to break that rule is if they're living here. That probably won't ever happen, though," and with that he turned his attention to Jen and TNT. He was all smiles and cheer, now, "So, do you two want anything to eat or drink? I mad somethings this morning but they're probably not as good to eat, now."

"Oh, some food sounds lovely," Jen smiled. What could she say? The woman was a terrible stress eater, and while she knew how terrible such a habit was, she wasn't willing to go through the trouble of breaking it. At least she hadn't become addicted to caffeine yet; it seemed everyone on the rescue team had developed an unhealthy dependence on caffeine when they were in the city for more than a day or two at a time. It had become increasingly obvious as of late because the number of rescues that were necessary had decreased. Less benders were surviving long enough to be put on wanted lists. They were all being weeded out. Jen didn't like to think of much these happenings. Remembering the benders who had survived that long only to die under their care made her gentle heart ache. She remembered an unusual pair of golden eyes and colorfully dyed hair looking at her fearfully. It had been close to two years since she had killed Hazel, but it still made her feel sick to her stomach.

"Coming right up! TNT, would you like anything?" Thyme was already on his way back into the kitchen. There was a set menu everyday, so Jen didn't really get a choice of what food would be made for her.

TNT shook his head and consequently sent a cloud of ash billowing into the air.

"I know one thing you do need, TNT, a shower," Jen laughed.

For a second, the humor seemed lost on the man. Then a smile split across his face and he laughed. Some of the dusty, black substance had settled across his pale face and made him look even more disheveled than normal. He scrubbed a hand across his eyes to get the ticklish powder off of his eyelids. "Yeah, y'know, Reiki's always telling me that when I see him! Maybe you two are right. In fact, I think I am going to take a shower. Tell Mu I'm back at the apartment if he asks."

"Okay, I'll see you later, enjoy your shower, hope you don't miss your filth too much!" she couldn't stop the bubbling laugh that worked up from her lungs.

She took a seat at one of the tables and leaned back so that her shoulder blades rested against the wood. A long sigh escaped her lips once her laughing had settled down, and she leaned her head back while closing her eyes. It was a heavy sigh that told of exhaustion, stress, and agitation. Her head snapped up when the door opened.

"Oh, hello, Jen. Sorry if you'd dozed off, did I scare you?" Reiki asked. He was smiling, and for once he looked a little less exhausted and broken.

"No, I just didn't expect anyone else to walk in," Jen shook her head and sat back up.

"That makes sense, I think we're some of the few people who ever really come here. I don't see why, though. Thyme's an amazing cook! And it's free!"

"It's probably just because it's all food that's so common in the non-bender world. I wouldn't be surprised if most people swore it off completely so they could forget about the lives they used to live. I was almost like that, for awhile," Jen admitted. At that moment, Thyme walked back out with a tray of warm food. He set it down near Jen.

"Did you come for food for everyone in the infirmary right now?" Thyme asked the healer.

"Yes, I did, in fact. And for myself, I can't remember the last time I actually ate," he seemed sheepish. He scolded everyone about not taking care of themselves, but TNT and Thyme always seemed to get onto him for forgetting to care for himself.

"You know, TNT or I should start living with you full time to make sure you follow your own advice! You hypocritical goose," Thyme cared for him out of a sense of duty, and TNT out of a sense of love.

"You know that will never happen. Though, I have been thinking of asking if I can build a small house attached to the infirmary so that TNT and I can live together," his ears burned red with that admittance. It wasn't a secret that he had TNT were engaged, at that point. The only thing keeping them from living together was TNT's fears of hospitals and Reiki's demanding job.

"I think that's a great idea! That way you'll actually get a chance to relax!" Thyme grinned at him.

"Yes, and with Carol agreeing to become my apprentice, then I'll be able to take more time off," Reiki smiled brightly.

"Wait, Carol wants to be your apprentice?" Jen interrupted. She sounded excited. After seeing how ill the girl had become from the cold Jen had begun worrying for her. It wouldn't be healthy for her to be a part of any of the teams but she wouldn't have to if she was Reiki's apprentice.

Reiki nodded, a cheerful smile taking over his features, "Yes! I haven't asked Nick for permission, yet, but I'm sure that he'll agree!"

"I'm sure he will!" Jen beamed, "I really hope that works out for her!"

If only such joy could last for long in that city.

* * *

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I'm sorry for the wait, stress and school have been a killer recently. I'm hoping to try posting every other weekend from now on!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA or LoK

* * *

Chapter 18

Jen walked up the stairs to the room she now shared with Chelsy, and would soon share with the other girls, quietly. She didn't want to wake the child, or she didn't want to risk it. She didn't actually know if Chelsy was asleep.

Her cautions were rewarded when she reached the top of the stairs. Chelsy was still fast asleep. She still tried not to make any noise as she walked to her own bed. She got settled and stared up at the ceiling. Now that she was laying down all of her energy began to come back and sleeping became a futile effort.

The room was silent for the longest time; only the girls' alternating breathing sounded. Even the steady sound of breath was quiet. When Chelsy finally awoke, Jen was glad. She got up after she heard Chelsy sit up. "Good morning, Chelsy. How did you sleep?" In all reality, she had no clue what time it was. It could have very well been morning, midday, or midnight.

"I slept well, and you?" Chelsy was oblivious to the fact that Jen had only slept for around twenty minutes before she was disturbed and drawn away from her bed.

"I slept great!" Jen lied with a big smile on her face, "If you don't mind, would it be okay if I had first dibs on the shower? I swear, I smell like I rolled in something dead! I'll be sure to leave enough hot water for you."

"I don't mind at all. I'm glad you slept well," Chelsy was still blinking the sleep from her eyes and yawning away the exhaustion. Her talkative nature would likely return once she had been given a proper chance to wake up from her restful nap.

"Thank you, glad you slept well, too!" Jen smiled, "I'll see you later. Holler if you need anything." She walked to the small bathroom and closed the door. It was unfortunate that the lock was broken, but it wasn't something that would affect her too greatly. The water didn't take long to heat up. Her shower was quick and she got dressed just as quickly. Thankfully some nightclothes from awhile before were laying on the floor of the bathroom so she didn't have to make a naked dash for her dresser. She pulled on the shorts, they used to be Mu's, and the shirt, which used to belong to Blaze. She had become guilty of "borrowing" many articles of clothing from the others. She had also stolen one of Reiki's shirts from when she first awoke in the city.

With a mighty stretch and a gaping yawn she walked back out. "You can go take a shower, now, Chelsy," she said as she passed the blond girl. "I'll be downstairs once you get out."

"Okay, thank you, Jen!" Chelsy smiled at her. She got up and walked to the bathroom. She showered for longer than Jen had. When she got downstairs she flopped onto the couch beside Jen.

"How was your shower?" Jen asked. She had a cup of coffee in her hands but she hardly paid any attention to it. A small grimace crossed her face whenever she raised the steaming cup to her lips.

"It was good. It was the first shower I've had since I had to start running," Chelsy smiled slightly. She was wearing a pair of pants that Jen had loaned her, and a shirt she had taken from the infirmary. "It feels really good to wash my hair. Do you think you could help me brush it, though?"

"Of course! I would love to," Jen happily abandoned her coffee on the table beside the couch and went to get her hairbrush. She walked back in and sat down beside Chelsy. "How about you sit with your back to me, that might make it easier."

Chelsy nodded and turned so she was sideways on the couch. Jen moved to sit in a similar fashion behind her and began to brush out her long hair. "I won't push too much, if it's not something you want to talk about, but what was your run like?" Jen was careful not to tug on any of the knots. When she got to worse ones, she carefully grabbed the hair just above the tangle to lightly work it out without pulling on Chelsy's scalp.

"It was really bad... I'm glad I met up with Carol and the others, though. They made it a lot easier to get through," Chelsy explained, "I had been hurt really badly just before they found me. I don't think I would have lived if Carol hadn't healed me. It's strange, but I can't bring myself to be upset with the boy who turned me in. We had been friends for a really long time; long as I can remember, actually. I had told him, I needed to tell someone so I trusted him. In the end I couldn't trust him, though."

"I wish I were able to forgive the girl who turned me in that easily. She's the one who ran the camp that you guys were at. I'm really glad Carol found you. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you," Jen offered a smile. She hoped to brighten the conversation now that she had accidentally set it onto a dark path. "You got a particular team you want to join when it comes time for you to decide?"

"Yeah, I want to join the rescue team! I want to be able to help other benders like you all helped us!" Chelsy brightened at the question. "I want to be able to help people get to the city so they at least have a fighting chance!"

"I look forward to having you on our team, then! Unless you get put on Christy's team, that is," Jen smiled. She worked out a particularly bad knot and moved on to the smoothest section of hair yet. "But from the few times I've met Christy, I think you'll like her. I also need to take you to meet Blaze, sometime. You'll love his shop."

"There's more rescue teams?" Christy asked. She seemed surprised by that fact.

"Yeah, I don't think we would all be able to handle the missions on our own. Mu and Christy have been friends for a long time, I think. From what I've heard, Mu helped rescue Christy and then she proved she was strong enough to become a leader of her own team," Jen nodded. She finished brushing out Chelsy's hair. "There you go! Want me to braid your hair for you?"

Chelsy seemed sidetracked from the previous conversation by the offer to have her hair braided, "Yes! Can you do french braids?"

"Well, I can try!" Jen cheered. She carefully began attempting to braid Chelsy's soft hair.

In the end, Chelsy's hair looked amazing and her first response upon seeing it in the mirror was to squeal happily and throw herself at Jen in a hug.

"I'm glad you like it," Jen smiled and hugged Chelsy back. "Now, how about we both go to the cafeteria and then stop by the infirmary? I think we both have the same training block, today. I'll take you where you need to go."

"Training block?" Chelsy asked. She had released Jen and was now walking beside her.

"We need to make sure your abilities are in top shape before Nick tests you to see if you are capable of staying here. You have two weeks, starting today, so Mu went ahead and got you set up with a teacher. Don't worry, he's a nice guy and I'm sure he'll be a great teacher. I'll actually be starting as his student, as well, today."

"You will? But why? I thought you were an earth-bender," Chelsy inquired.

"Well, turns out I'm more than just an earth-bender. According to Nick, I'm the Avatar. I'll be starting with fire as my second element today, and tomorrow I'll be working with Christy on water," Jen gave a small, uncertain shrug. She didn't want her new roommate to make a big deal out of her bending abilities. She personally wished that no one would comment on it.

"What's an Avatar?" Chelsy asked.

"It's nothing, Chelsy. Forget I said anything, all you need to remember is that I'll be working four times harder than everyone else so I might be a bit of a platypus-bear to put up with, at times," she said. Her tone was dreading and lacked the previous note of humor she had used.

"Oh, okay," Chelsy let the subject drop. She follow Jen to the cafeteria.

"Well, who is this?" Thyme asked when Chelsy walked in. He was leaning against the counter. As usual he appeared as if he had nothing important to do or worry about. He was lazily chewing on a plastic fork and observing his domain.

"This is Chelsy. She's one of the new benders we found. Chelsy, this is Thyme. He's a friend of mine, and he's pretty nice as long as you don't go into the kitchen without being invited first. He's the cook in the cafeteria, and any food you get form here is free. Not many people eat here, though, so you won't have to worry about crowds."

Chelsy nodded and did her best to hold onto all of the information. "Hello, Thyme. It's really nice to meet you. I'm glad so many people here are so friendly." She walked over and held out a hand.

He shook her hand, "We do our best to make everyone feel welcome. Man, with your hair in those pretty braids you look like a princess from a movie. Is it okay if I call you that? Princess?"

Chelsy burst into a fit of giggling. "Yes, you can definitely call me that!"

Thyme always showed promise in interacting with the younger benders that showed up. "Well, I'm afraid the food that's out now isn't too fresh, Princess. Would you be able to wait for some fresh food?"

"Of course," Chelsy happily nodded her head and sent her braids bobbing.

"Let's go sit down, while he cooks," Jen suggested. When she got an affirmative nod from Chelsy she led her to one of the long tables and sat down. "Thyme is great, I'm really glad that I get to spend time with him sometimes. He's a lot nicer than a lot of the guys I hang out with, here."

"You mean the guys on the rescue team?" Chelsy asked. She sat across from Jen and propped her chin on her hands.

"Yes, most of them seem pretty nice at first but once you start working with them you get kind of sick of them," Jen's tone was mostly joking, "It's nice to have other people besides them to spend time with. And Reiki and Blaze can get a bit overbearing, sometimes. Thyme is pretty relaxed though, so I love getting to spend time with him."

"I'm sure I'll like spending time with everyone here," Chelsy declared with a smile stretching ear-to-ear, "I didn't really have anyone outside of my family except one friend who was willing to tolerate me before I came here, so I'm not going to mind the company so long as none of them are outright mean."

"Then you'll fit in just fine here," Jen smiled softly, "I hope we can continue to get along this well. It's very nice to have a roommate, so far!"

"I like you, you're nice," Chelsy agreed, "I'm sure we'll be best friends!"

Their conversation was cut short when Thyme came out of the kitchen with two trays of food, "Here you go, hope it's okay. I'm afraid I have work to do, so I won't be joining you today, Jen."

"It's fine, I hope you can finish your work quickly," she smiled and waved at him.

The two girls ate in silence; once they finished eating Jen took Chelsy's tray and dropped it off in the tub left out for dirty dishes and trays. "Let's go visit the others in the infirmary, now. Carol should be getting out today. Maybe we can pick her up after training. I'm sure she'll be happy to get out of the infirmary, as well!"

"Oh, yesterday when I visited Carol said she would stay in the infirmary with Reiki until it was decided whether he would be her teacher or not," Chelsy said, "But we should go see them! Maybe one of the others will be ready to leave!"

"She's really excited about having him as a teacher, isn't she?" Jen couldn't help her smile. She wondered if anyone could be half as excited as Reiki was about having Carol as a helper and a student.

"Yes, it's the happiest I've seen her before. Though, I guess that should be expected. We'd only known each other since I started running with the others. It's hard to be happy, in that type of situation. I'm happy for her, though! I'm sure she'll be able to do wonderful things with her abilities," Chelsy grinned, "And I think it will do Reiki some good, too! He seems like he's always really busy. He was telling us about his fiance the other day. He said he really wanted to spend more time with him."

"It will be wonderful for both of them, if things work out. Reiki is always a little bit stressed out because of how busy he always is. It will do him good to have someone else to rely on with his work, and seeing TNT will do him some good. He doesn't give himself enough breaks. That's coming from someone on the rescue team, which means that he _really _needs to give himself a break," Jen had begun to ramble, and only then began to realize it.

"You care about everyone here, don't you?" Chelsy asked with a small giggle. "You always say that they're mean or overbearing but you always talk like you're really worried about all of them, I think it's cute."

"I guess I do care about them, no matter what they're like. I am mad at Mu right now, though. I don't know if I will forgive him any time soon, or not," Jen admitted. The way he had spoken to her and treated her and the fact that he called her a liar were not things that sat well with her.

"I'm sure, whatever happened, you two will work it out," Chelsy smiled sweetly. It seemed her expression could be quite charming when she tried to make it that way.

When they approached the doors of the infirmary, Chelsy said, "Some of them are probably trying to sleep, so we should be quiet."

They entered the infirmary quietly.

* * *

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! :D I could really use a beta, guys, if you could spare the time/effort! I would proofread it myself, but I'm usually too exhausted to (like now :p) Thanks so much for reading, guys! I really, really wanna hear back about what you think!


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA or LoK!

* * *

Chapter 19

Throughout Reiki's life, things had not gone his way. His abilities as a bender were discovered when he was just an infant, and his father had been forced to flee with him after an incident where the neighbors learned of the family's dark secrets. From there things had gone down hill, and in the end he ended up a part of Nick's little traveling herd of benders. Even after that, though, things hadn't worked out.

Finally, for what seemed like one of the first times in his life, Reiki's luck was looking up. He finally had a chance to get a break, spend more time with TNT, and he had a student. He had someone to help him and someone he could teach. It was finally the day he had been waiting for. He was going to ask Nick for permission to keep Carol as his student off of the teams, and he was going to ask if he could build an addition to the infirmary so he had a little somewhere to stay aside from the little building.

Reiki wiped his palms on his pants and shifted his weight between his feet. He hadn't talking to Nick directly since Ayaka had died under his care. He swallowed and reached up to arrange his hair. He should have trimmed it, and he should have shaved the scraggly little bit of stubble that grew along his jaw. Despite being in his early twenties he couldn't grow facial hair except for the pathetic little wisps.

"Reiki, Nick will talk with you now," Hien limped down the stairs.

Reiki nodded a little too quickly and stumbled over his words, "Thank you, Hien. Thank you very much."

"Dude, you look like you're about to pass out. Just calm down, okay? It'll work out. Nick likes you," Hien patted him on the shoulder and limped back to the computer he sat before day in and day out.

Reiki swallowed thickly again, "You're right, you're right. Thank you." He shook his head and took a few deep breaths. With that, he strode up the rickety stairs to Nick's office. Going that full way made his legs ache. He had to stop to catch his breath again once he reached the top. He closed his eyes and took one last calming breath. He knocked on Nick's office.

"Come in," Nick called.

Reiki opened the door and stepped in. He took another deep breathe. "H-Hello, Nick. I just had a few requests to make, if you would hear them."

"Yes, yes, what are they?" Nick clearly seemed more interested in whatever he was filling out at the moment.

"One of the benders we rescued recently shows a good deal of promise as a healer," he licked his lips, and his lips snagged over the skin that was still dry. "I was wondering if I could keep her as a student, and let her stay independent of any of the teams. Like me."

Nick's expression was chilly when he looked up. He narrowed his eyes and said in a voice that made Reiki cower away, "You think you are so special that you can be allowed to bend the rules?! You arrogant fool! I don't want to hear another word from you! Even if she has potential as a healer she has to follow the rules like everyone else! Now leave!"

Reiki's expression hardened. His eyebrows furrowed and his delicate blue eyes narrowed, "We need more healers, Nick! Unless you want everyone to keep dying-"

"Perhaps that is what I want. This city is doomed to fail no matter what we do, at this point. Now leave me, if I see you here again arguing such a point, you will be exiled!" Nick's voice was like a vicious clap of thunder.

Reiki's lips and nostril's trembled with unsteady breaths as another argument fought its way up from his throat. "Nick, it is your job to keep this city alive! You are our leader, you have to keep the best-" He was cut off by a small cup holding various pens being flung at him. The rim of the ceramic cup smashed into his forehead and he stumbled back. The cup had cracked upon hitting him, and shattered upon hitting the ground. Blood welled up above his eyebrow where the cup had struck.

"Get out, now! One more word from you and you will be exiled!" Nick practically screamed. He chucked another pen at Reiki, and it hit just right for the tip to break his skin.

Reiki left. His legs suddenly felt weak and he felt a pit of anger and nerves rise in his stomach. He made it two steps down the first flight of stairs before he fell. His head knocked against the wall at the bottom of the stairs. His vision dimmed for a few moments. When he awoke, it was to TNT, Hien, and Carol carefully trying to move him down the stairs.

His eyelids twitched in a small blink and he could only give a mumbled warning of, "sick..." before the bile pushing at the back of his throat finally succeeded. He accidentally threw up on TNT's shirt.

"Reiki, you're going to be okay," she said softly. Soon they had moved him to the infirmary and laid him down on one of the beds.

TNT seemed visibly uneasy, but he sat on the edge of the bed Reiki was on to gently run his thumb across his fiance's cheek. "Sorry, Rei, one of us should have gone with you. Nick's been unstable recently..."

Carol carefully set to work healing the forming lump and any mild internal damage on Reiki's head where his head had hit the wall. Next she healed the small injury above his eye.

Reiki didn't respond for a few moments. It seemed the damage from the fall was also a bit internal. his pupils were dilated until everything was healed.

"I'll go get you a clean shirt, TNT," Carol said softly and left.

"I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry, TNT... I don't think we'll be able to spend more time together after all..." Reiki's voice cracked. He was visibly fighting back tears as he reached up to grab TNT's hand and press it to his forehead.

"Don't apologize, not for something like that," TNT said softly and moved to half-hug and half-lay against Reiki. He leaned up to kiss his forehead, "I'll... I'll come visit you when I can."

Carol walked over and gently tapped TNT on the shoulder to give him one of Reiki's, it used to be TNT's, shirts. She went to go finish cleaning up the room. All of the patients in the infirmary had been sent to temporary housing until they could be tested.

"I'm sorry, I-I'm so sorry, both of you..." he whispered in a broken voice. Reiki could only fight back his tears and continue murmured soft apologies under his breath. He had only gotten like that twice before since TNT met him. The first time was when he couldn't save TNT's mother or new born sister when they first met, and the second time was to Nick when he couldn't save Ayaka.

Both TNT and Carol tried to gently soothe him. Carol moved to kneel on the floor beside his bed to be on eye-level with him. She brushed his hair back, "You tried, Reiki. You don't need to get like this. You don't need to be this sorry when you tried your absolute best."

"You'll die in the plants, though..." he whispered softly. He had been so close to having another student. The last student he was allowed to teach was Ayaka. Perhaps that was why Nick had grown so unreasonable. He hadn't been able to save Ayaka, yet he had been able to save Rosy when he was afflicted with the same venom just two weeks later. It had been because of Ayaka, though. He'd been able to figure out what the venom was shortly after she had died and had been able to adapt an anti-venom.

After awhile, Carol said, "Simple, then I'll join one of the teams. I just have to pass the test he gives me."

Reiki and TNT knew that wouldn't work. Nick made the tests all but impassible. He would have made one for her based around offensive skills instead of healing. Neither said anything. Reiki was clearly in state to be logically talking. His apologies died down, though. Soon he just lay there and stare blankly at the ceiling of the infirmary.

"I wonder... has the ceiling always been this cracked?" he mused softly. It was the same ceiling he stared at when he couldn't sleep despite having the chance to it. It was the ceiling that so many dying patients had stared up at. It had never looked so close to breaking, before.

"Yes, don't worry," TNT said softly. He was managing to stay calm despite being in the infirmary by focusing only on Reiki; he didn't look at the ceiling to reaffirm that it wasn't more cracked.

"Things are falling apart again. I can't get them back together this time," he murmured softly. When Ayaka had died he had suffered from a severe emotional breakdown. It had left him unable to work and help people for a week and he had still not recovered from it for over two months. If things kept going as they were, it seemed it might happen again.

"You can, Reiki. You're strong," TNT assured gently. "You're strong, and you're so kind. You are wonderful."

Reiki only shook his head slightly, "I-I'm sorry..."

TNT sighed and shifted to lay beside him so he could hug him. He gently guided Reiki to rest his head on his shoulder. "Nothing is your fault. You are wonderful, and have done so much to help everyone. You are absolutely wonderful. Please don't think you've caused this."

Reiki went quiet.

Carol left calming Reiki down to TNT; he seemed to know what he was doing more than her. She began cleaning the room. At times when she got stresses she had the habit of overcleaning, and this seemed to be one of them.

Reiki soon fell asleep. TNT still held him close.

* * *

Jen forced breath after breath from her dry, flared nostrils. She was leaning back against the wall for a only a moments long break. When she got back up and back to her training she could feel every muscle in her body protest it. Her legs trembled, but she forced herself back into the shower of ice and water again.

"You're doing good, Jen! Just try and land one hit on me, and we'll take a break," Christy barked. She rolled under a weak stream of water that Jen managed to thread from the pools of training water that lined the room.

Jen swallowed the thick, frothy saliva that collected under her tongue. Her body couldn't seem to remember the last time she had taken a break. She was being worked to the bone, and as soon as her practice finished, she would be going to work. She stepped wrong, and a spray of icy water managed to knock her to the stone floor. She curled in on herself and wheezed.

Immediately, the shower of ice and water stopped. Christy approached her and crouched beside Jen. With a light hand on her shoulder, she asked, "Hey, you okay?"

"Can we be done for the day?" Jen barely managed. She rolled onto her back and winced as her shoulder made a disturbing cracking sound.

"Yeah. You look beat," Christy nodded. She plopped down beside Jen, "Need me to carry you home?"

"No, I've got work," she shook her head slightly. Her head was spinning less, now, and her chest stung a little bit less. She was trembling, but she managed to sit up.

"You're one busy bee. How about you let Ibis and I treat you to lunch sometime?" Christy offered, "You're working hard enough, and I know how inconsiderate Mu can be. You deserve a reward."

"Thanks, I might take you up on that offer, sometime," Jen murmured softly. She happily accepted a cold bottle of water that Christy handed her. She held it against her flushed skin. She drank half of the bottle in one gulp, before she returned the cold, damp plastic to her skin.

"Blaze will understand if you need a break from work. You know that, right?" Christy said, "He's a cool guy. Really understanding, too."

"Yeah, but he has a lot of work already. I like to give him a bit of a break," Jen explained. She finished off the water and tossed the bottle aside. "I need to go, now. Thanks for letting me stop early. I promise I'll work extra hard next time." She stood shakily, "Tell Ibis hi for me."

"Of course," Christy smiled softly. "Take care of yourself."

"I will," Jen promised slightly. She was barely able to make it to the ladder before she had to sit down for a moment. Her trip up the ladder was nearly impossible. By the time she reached the top her arms were trembling uncontrollably and she was panting for breath. She quickly got back to her feet and went to the shop. The stairs to the shop seemed even more uneven than normal, and she felt herself nearly slip down the short flight multiple times. She walked into the shop and called in a breathless voice, "Blaze, I'm here!"

"Oh, Jen! You got here early!" he seemed surprised. When he saw her his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth turned down, "You don't look well, Jen. Maybe you shouldn't be working today."

"I'm fine, don't worry," she promised weakly. She felt far from fine, but she didn't want to leave all of the work to him.

"If you insist, I guess I need some help feeding the polar bear-dogs. Think you could handle that?" Blaze was already walking to the fridge of raw meat he kept for the carnivorous animals.

"Yes, I can handle it. I've fed them a lot of times, before," she nodded. She took the dishes he loaded with meat and walked back into the cave behind the shop. She walked to the pen where the large creatures were kept and fed. She had to bend over the edge of the pen to set the dishes down. As she was standing up, she swayed uncertainly. She went lightheaded, and her vision darkened. The only thing that told Blaze something was wrong was the clanking of a dish.

Blaze ran back into the cave and rushed over to Jen. He pressed his hand against her forehead. The training flush aside, she was still a worrisome temperature. As carefully as he could, Blaze took Jen up to the infirmary.

* * *

A/N:


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK or AtLA.

* * *

Chapter 20

Blaze struggled with picking Jen up. He was considerably taller than her, but the most he lifted was boxes; Jen, with her muscle mass, was far heavier than any box. He managed, though, and it only took him ten minutes to get her to the infirmary. The room was empty and dark, save for a visible lump on one of the beds.

Said lump lifted its head from the pillow and gazed drowsily at the two. Reiki's eyes were swollen and pink and he blinked dimly at them for a moment. his usual quick reflexes were gone and he was painfully slow in getting up to go look at Jen.

Blaze hadn't been able to keep Jen up any long and had lazed her on the bed closest to the door.

The young woman was slowly starting to come to. Her face was flushed and her eyes had an off glaze to them. She rested her head on the pillow and groaned quietly. Her whole body still hurt from the vigorous training session and she felt oddly sick. She blinked in confusion as Reiki rested the back of his hand against her forehead.

"I think she has a fever. What happened?" his voice wasn't demanding like it normally was when he found himself in a situation like this. If anything, it was sluggish and dull. Like he wasn't completely there at the moment.

"I don't know. She looked a little sick when she got to work, but she wanted to work so I let her go to feed the polar bear-dogs. I heard something crash on the floor and she had passed out. Is she okay? Are you okay?" Blaze had noticed how poorly Reiki looked.

"Fine... I think she's just sick. Her arm looks like she sprained it, there. I can take care of her," Reiki murmured. He was already making his slow way over to one of the shelves. His step held no energy; his movements almost seemed as if he had nothing to keep going for at the moment.

"Rei, you don't look good. Do you need help?" Blaze offered.

"No, I'm fine," his answer was simple and cut-off. He began looking through the various medicines that were kept in the medical shelf. He gave Jen something for her fever and made her finish a glass of water before he returned to the bed he had been on. It wasn't his cot, which was also worrisome. He almost never took up one of the beds. Once he laid down he cocooned himself in the blankets and stopped moving.

Blaze couldn't help worrying. If it weren't for the fact that all of the animals needed to be fed and their enclosures cleaned then he would have stayed to keep an eye on them. In the end he reluctantly left. He watched the doors swing shut behind him. On his way to the shopping district he went to the cafeteria. "Thyme, hey, you in here?"

"I'm in the kitchen, Blaze, but I'm busy," the call came from the direction of the kitchen. There were other voices. One was undoubtedly Carol's.

"If it's about Reiki, that's why I'm here," he responded.

There was a long pause before TNT said, "Come back and talk." He sounded nervous.

Blaze walked through the small hallway that led back into the kitchen. Carol was sitting on the counter top, with TNT leaning against it beside her. Thyme sat backwards on a chair he had taken from the dining area. All three of them watched Blaze closely as he came in and settled on the floor beside TNT's feet.

"How do you know what's going on with him?" TNT asked softly.

"I just took Jen to the infirmary because she's sick again, and he barely got up to check on her. Did something happen? He hasn't been like this since... you know," Blaze explained.

"He asked Nick to allow him to keep Carol as his student. Nick had another one of his outbursts. He threw a mug at Reiki and hit him in the head. He fell down the stairs. Carol healed him, but I don't think he's okay. Not emotionally, at least. He was really bad the last time I went to check on him..." TNT said softly. His expression was disturbed and he looked like he was ready to cry. He had encouraged Reiki to go talk to Nick. He had encouraged what caused such a terrible thing.

"He got like this before, T, remember? He'll be fine," Thyme tried to assure.

"It was all my fault... I should have been the one to talk to Nick," Carol whispered to herself.

"Guys, one of you should be watching him! What if he tries to hurt himself?" Blaze said, "I know he doesn't seem like the type of person to do that, but we don't know exactly how all of this will affect him!"

"Rei promised me he wouldn't do anything like that to himself. He doesn't break promises like that," TNT assured quietly. His normally bright and crazy eyes were dull and getting a bit teary. He stared at his feet.

"I know, I know he probably won't do something like that, but I'm worried about him," Blaze said. He played with his hands, "Nick is getting out of hand, you guys. We need to step in and do something!"

"We're trying to, Blaze. We've been trying to for a long time, but Reiki has been in charge of that! Which of the founders would be able to replace him, though? Do you think either of the twins would be willing to leave the rescue team? Or Akio would be willing to take that responsibility?"

"I... I could, if it really came down to it. Don't forget TNT and I are founders, too," he said softly.

"I won't take the position. I can't. I wouldn't be able to do things right," TNT quickly shook his head, "And Mu already told us he won't overthrow Nick. He might be going crazy, but he's still the last person from the old team aside from Cais that Mu has."

"We can do it without Mu! I'll step in, then! I'll go and tell him that myself right now!" Blaze shouted.

"Blaze, you know he'll kick you-"

"If I overthrow him I won't have to! I think you all forget I used to be the one killing catchers for everyone!" Blaze had risen to his feet, "I can take Nick down physically if I have to, and I'm not afraid to! He's hurt too many of our friends, now!"

"Please, calm down! You know, when it came down to it, you would probably die trying to fight him. He used to be stronger than Mu and I'm sure he still is, deep down, just like you! If anything, you two would bring down everything we've been fighting for," Thyme did his best to keep his voice down to try and calm Blaze. Tears had welled in the young man's eyes, and his voice was growing thick. "This is our home, Blaze. We can't let it all fall apart like this. Think about everyone here. Think about Cais, the twins, think of Ibis and Christy, think of all of my team. Think of the rescue teams. What about Hose, Hein, everyone? You're so selfish that you'll just let it all be destroyed like this?"

"I just don't want to see anyone else like this! Mu, Reiki, Jen, everyone I know is breaking because of Nick's new policies. Cais misses Click so much. Reiki is being worked too hard, and Mu told me himself he wanted to die because he keeps seeing all of the work his team puts in go to waste! Can't you see that Nick is making things worse for everyone?"

"We see that, but we have to be sensible about all of this," TNT finally spoke up. He carefully walked to Blaze and hugged him tightly. He pressed his face against his chest, Blaze was a head taller than him, and murmured, "Do you think I'm not breaking, too? The plants are horrible. Everyone is dying and getting sick, and I'm not allowed to help them... Reiki is breaking down, and he is my support. I won't be able to stay strong much longer, but we have to be patient."

Blaze hugged him gently and ruffled his hair. A small bit of ash puffed into the air. "Sorry. I'm just so sick of this all. This place used to be like a heaven, and now it's all crashing down around us. I can't keep doing this if I have to watch even Reiki lose it."

"We'll work things out, soon. We just need to talk this all out, for now," TNT whispered. He finally moved away from the hug. "I'm going to go sit with Reiki, now. I'll be there, if you need me."

"All right. I'll bring you and him some food in an hour or two. I'll bring something for Jen, as well," Thyme nodded, "If I can, I'll make Reiki some chocolate cake, but I might not have the ingredients."

"He would appreciate that, if I could get him to eat anything," TNT nodded. "I'm going, now." With that, he walked away from the kitchen.

"I need to get back to work. Will you two be okay?" Blaze asked cautiously.

"Yes, this happens sometimes," Thyme said after awhile.

"I'll be okay," Carol agreed. After a pause, she asked, "Will you, Blaze?"

"Yeah, I got my animals to keep me company," he put on a fake smile, "I gotta go finish feeding them, now. I'll come check in on you guys later."

"Take care of yourself," Thyme said gently, "See you later, Blaze."

"You too, both of you," he nodded slightly. "See you." With that, the three separated and went their own ways.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry for the short chapter.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK or AtLA!

* * *

Chapter 21

Jen only slept for about an hour before she slowly lifted her head off of her pillow and looked around. It took her a few moments to register where she was, but when she did she relaxed a bit. She had a terrible tension headache and her whole body ached. She glanced around and noticed how dark the room was. It wasn't normally kept with the lights so low. Then she noticed that she couldn't see Reiki.

This truly worried her. As soon as she found her voice, she used her strongest voice to call, "Reiki, where are you?"

"I'm here..." the response came from the bed across the room from hers. Reiki had successfully cocooned himself in blankets and looked as if he wasn't going to be moving anytime soon.

"Are you okay?" Jen asked softly.

"I'm fine, Jen. Don't worry," Reiki muttered. He rolled over to sit up and look at her. "How are you feeling? Blaze said you passed out while you were working."

"Oh. I did? I guess I must have overworked myself," Jen gave a small shrug. "With all of the bending classes, and with work, and Mu always barking his lungs out at me to practice more, I guess I just let myself get a little overwhelmed."

"You need to be careful about that, Jen. If you need a break, come to me, and I'll make sure you get it," Reiki murmured softly. His eyes held an exhausted, empty look. He looked as if he were completely done with trying to be his usual self. The normal cheeriness was nonexistent in his eyes; in its place was a steady exhaustion.

"I know, but I can't let everyone down... Rei, are you sure you're okay?" Jen probed gently, "You don't seem like yourself."

"Something happened with Nick. I'm afraid I don't feel like saying anything else," he murmured quietly.

Jen gave a small nod, "You don't have to tell me anymore, for now."

The doors to the infirmary opened and TNT walked in. He seemed to have tunnel vision, focusing only on Reiki. It was the way that he was staying sane going in and out of the infirmary building so often. "How are you feeling, Reiki?"

"I'm okay," he seemed to grow a small bit weaker now that he wasn't trying to keep himself up for Jen. He laid back down and waited for TNT to come join him. He snuggled up to his fiance.

"That's good," he whispered quietly. He kissed his forehead and hugged him. He carefully rearranged the blankets over the both of them. "You need to sleep now, Rei. Just rest."

"I will," he murmured against TNT's shoulder and let his eyes slip closed. Sleep came easily to the exhausted man. His hair was a mess, and the normally neat, dark brown swooping waves of hair had become matted in some places. Certain areas even had bits of blood in the tangles. His whole appearance was falling apart.

TNT tried not to note these things, or that Reiki was beginning to smell of stale sweat. Normally he was entirely took meticulous about making himself look neat and put together. He really must have been lapsing into a bad way. It was only a few days since the incident with Nick, but already Reiki was letting himself be so thoroughly torn apart. TNT hugged him a bit tighter and buried his face against Reiki's hair.

Eventually TNT was disrupted from his quiet cuddling with his fiance. Jen had stood up and walked across the room. She had gone to go get a damp rag. She walked back over, "TNT, you should put this on his cheeks. They look really hot from him crying."

TNT nodded slightly. He took the rag and gently pressed it against Reiki's cheeks. The redness in the tan skin went down a little bit. It did also lessen the heat that had been radiating from his cheeks. "Thank you, Jen... Thank you for helping me look out for him."

"Of course. If you need anything, just let me know," Jen smiled softly. She herself probably needed to be resting, but the room just didn't feel right with Reiki out of it like he was. She felt like she should be doing something to help the man who had done so much to help everyone else.

TNT nodded and settled back down with Reiki. Soon they were both asleep.

* * *

Reiki sat up in bed for the first time since the accident. Jen was carefully trimming and brushing his hair for him. "So... That's what happened?"

"Yes. I just know Carol won't pass the test. Even if she tries Nick will make it impossible for her to do," he whispered softly. He held a cup of warm tea that TNT had brought him.

"Reiki you have helped me more than you can imagine since I've arrived to this city. Nick's reasoning for sending her down there is that the city is too crowded, right? Well, I'll just go tell him I'm giving Carol my place in the city, my citizenship, and I'll go to the plants. I'm strong, I'm healthy, and I can survive down there. Would you be okay if I did that?" She didn't dare let Carol know of this plan. The woman would refuse it; she couldn't risk letting Reiki fall much deeper into his current despair.

"Jen, I couldn't ask you to do something like that. I just couldn't. And I don't know how Carol would feel about it, either," Reiki whispered. He took a sip of the hot tea in his hands. His eyes were swollen and he blinked often.

"You wouldn't be asking me to, Reiki. Besides, I need to do something useful for a change. It seems all I've been doing recently is troubling you and Blaze. I'm ready to help one of you," she said gently. She carefully brushed a tangle out of his hair. "And I want to see you happy again, Reiki. Out of everyone here, you deserve to be happy almost the most."

He stayed quiet for a long time, "You promise you won't do something stupid and get yourself killed while you're down there?"

"I promise, Reiki. I will come back up here safe and sound when Nick is no longer in charge of the city," she whispered softly. She carefully trimmed at a bit of knotted hair that she couldn't get out with the brush.

"I can never thank you enough for this, Jen. Thank you, thank you," he said. Tears welled in his eyes as he thanked her gently. His shoulders trembled ever so slightly.

"You don't have to thank me for any of it, Reiki. This is my thanks to you," she gently took the cup of tea from him before he accidentally spilled any of it on himself. "I've finished trimming your hair up. Why don't you get up so I can change the sheets?"

"It's fine you-"

"Reiki, you need to go ahead and change clothes too. I'm not going to make you bathe or shower, because I know you can't be feeling good right now, but please put on the clothes I got out for you and go to the bathroom. I'm going to change the bedding and get you a new pillow."

He eventually nodded and reluctantly stood. He took the clothes and went to the small restroom.

Jen carefully changed the sheets on the bed and put a better, softer blanket on it. She also got a different pillow and fluffed it before putting it on his bed. She carefully cooled the tea with a combination between water-bending and air-bending. She also got a cool glass of water and put it beside his bed. When he got back, she gently said, "You should try to get some more sleep, now. I found you some eye drops earlier, too. Do you want them?"

"Yes, that sounds lovely, Jen. Thank you for all of your help," he murmured again. He carefully took the small bottle he was handed and tipped his head back to drip the cool drops into his swollen eyes.

"I already told you, Reiki, you don't have to thank me," she smiled gently and reached out to gently ruffle his hair. "Now, I need to go. I have a few things to take care of before I go talk to Nick. Then I'll come by and say goodbye to you."

Reiki nodded. He reached out and gently gave her hand a grateful squeeze. Softly, he said, "You have come so far from that scrawny, comatose girl I was brought in three years ago. Jen, you are wonderful. Don't ever doubt that, okay?"

"I won't, Reiki. You have to promise not to doubt yourself, though, too," she gently smiled at him, "I hope that having Carol around makes things easier for you."

"It will, Jen. It will," he didn't promise not to doubt himself. He knew that he couldn't keep such a promise. Especially not with the way things had been going.

"I'll see you soon, Reiki," she said softly. With that, she left to take care of business.

* * *

In the end Reiki and Blaze were the only two to know of her plan. She told Blaze because she felt he deserved to know where she was going, and so that he wouldn't set jobs aside for her when she wouldn't be coming in. The rest of what she did involved little preparation. Her goodbyes were short, thankfully, and she only cried a little bit when she bid Reiki and Blaze farewell before she went to Nick's office.

The walk up the stairs seemed like to built up dread and tension with each step. By the time she reached his office she could barely force herself to raise her hand to the door and knock. After hearing about the way Nick had treated Reiki she didn't want to think how he might treat her. Finally, she brought her hand up to light rap her knuckles on the door.

"Come in," Nick's voice called through the door.

Jen took a deep breath before she entered the room. "Nick, I have a request to make."

"Make it quick, I don't have all day!" He snapped. He was looking at a piece of paper on his desk.

"Six days ago you rejected a request from Reiki to allow Carol to stay up in this part of the city without testing or joining a team to assist him in healing and you refused. I have come to make a slightly different offer on the matter," she said simply.

Nick's glare might have scared her away were she not doing this for Reiki. But the man needed a break for once in his life, and she was going to make sure that he was happy in return for all of the help he had offered her in the past.

"I will trade my citizenship for hers. I am volunteering myself to go to the Plants, but only if she's given a pass on the test and teams and allowed to train under Reiki," Jen said. Her expression was determined and her body language was firm.

"That's quite an extreme offer. Are you sure you really want to willingly go down into that hell?" he asked with a surprised look. He almost looked as if he were daring her to answer positively.

"Yes, I'm sure. Is this a deal?" she showed no signs of hesitation at his challenging look. She wouldn't be deterred from this so easily.

"All right, very well. You will be moved to the plants by tomorrow, or there is no deal," he said. The tests for all of the others would be held then, too.

"I can go in today. Shall I just go on my own?" she asked.

"No, I will escort you myself. After all, I need to make sure you're not just playing some kind of trick," he said. "And you cannot simply leave if you decide it's too much for you just because you volunteered to go down there. You will permanently lose your citizenship here."

"I understand this all. You may escort me into the Plants now," if she didn't go now she wouldn't go at all. She would back out and decide that she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Tell me, does Mu know that you're doing this?" he asked curiously.

"He does not, and he will not learn it from my mouth. Now let's go," she was getting nervous. She had to get down there now before she changed her mind. She had promised Reiki, she couldn't turn back now. She licked her lips and shifted her weight.

"Very well. If you're so anxious to go to your doom who am I to stop you? Oh, and just a little bit of information, people who do what you do don't usually last in the Plants. The other workers aren't very fond of people who would willingly give up their citizenship," Nick offered her a disturbed grin as he walked past her and led her to the entrance of the Plants.

She descended the stairs into the dimly lit, underground cavity with a sense of heavy dread.

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A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! I promise I'll start proof reading again soon, guys! Please forgive any errors or typos I am just really lazy and tired.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA or LoK.

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Chapter 22

Immediately upon reaching the bottom of the stairs Jen could feel her chest begin to ache. The air smelled terrible and it hurt to breathe.

Someone walking by noticed her reaching the bottom of the stairs. It was the boy that she had met in the shopping levels. "What are you doing here? Come to give us more of your stupid sympathy?"

"No... No, I just got sent here. I wanted to keep a sick person from being sent down," Jen stammered nervously. She chocked on the air and coughed.

The young man scoffed, "Here, you'll need this. Your spoiled lungs aren't used to this type of air." He shoved a mask into her hands.

Jen bowed her head and gave a soft thank you. She knew she had no right to call him out. Not after all of the things he had been subjected to in the plants. She put the mask on and then softly asked, "How do I figure out what to do down here?"

"Simple, what kind of bender are you?" the boy seemed to relax a bit as he realized she was going to work. He had only relaxed a small bit; his shoulders were still held tight and his eyes were still narrowed.

"I can bend all four elements. I'm best with earth and fire," she hesitated at this. With how everyone above had reacted she was afraid of how the young man would react.

His eyes went wide and he actually _bowed _to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you're the Avatar!"

"Please get up, you really don't have to bow or treat me differently! I just want to do what I can to help down here. I know I might not be able to do much, but I would at least like to try to be of some use to all of you," she quickly gestured for the emaciated boy to rise back to his feet.

He did, but slowly. "Avatar, it is a pleasure for you to be down here with us. I apologize for my previous behavior towards you. Please, tell me what you are doing here instead of trying to bring peace?"

"Well, uh, you see, I just found out I was the Avatar, and then I volunteered to come down here to help the healer. I can try to do a bit more work for people down here, since I can bend two elements, maybe I can work double shifts," she explained in a rush. Her words fumbled and she motioned awkwardly to better explain her works.

"Are you sure? That might be too much for you," he said, and quickly added, "Not that I doubt your judgement or strength, Avatar!"

"Even if it is too much for me, I can overwork myself trying to help people, instead of just because I'm told to," that was how she had begun to view her training. She just saw it as being told to do something that wouldn't lead up to helping people in any way.

The young man quickly nodded, "Then just follow me. I'll show you where you can work."

Jen nodded and followed the young man. After a moment, she asked, "Do you have a name?"

"Well, I never got a chance to start going by anything different, Avatar, so I hope my non-bender name doesn't offend you," again the boy spoke so humbly now that he knew who she was. "My name is Ricky."

"You don't have to treat me so respectfully, Ricky. I'm just like you. I even still use my own non-bender name," Jen assured gently with a small smile. It was hidden by the mask, though. Soon she was led into the noisy part of the plants where she could hardly even hear the commands that were given to people by those in charge of them. She could barely hear him as he told her which machine to go to and told her what to do. Him being a fire-bender, he couldn't help by demonstrating for her.

Jen managed to get the hang of that particular type of bending quickly and was soon helping to work the machine. That might have been the first time she was actually grateful for Mu's training outside of the rescue team.

She couldn't help noticing how hard it was to breathe down there. Not only was the air acrid, but it was also hot and muggy. Sweat was soon covering her body and she had to start taking more and more breaks.

One of the others working the machine seemed to notice this and offered her a sympathetic look. There wasn't much she could do, though. They weren't allowed to leave their stations until their time was up, even if they had to stop and take breaks.

Jen was struggling to keep up with everyone and keep her part of the large, stone machine working. She was thankful when some of the noise died down and they were all dismissed. The young woman who had given her the soft look walked over to her and gently led her to another room. It was far quieter there, and it was where people were taking breaks. It was crowded and just as muggy as the previous room.

"You must be fresh to the plants, dear. You did well, for a first timer working the machines," the woman who had led her there offered her a sweet smile. "I'll see to it that you get everything you need, now."

"Thank you, miss. You're being awfully kind to me," Jen offered her a small smile. She still wore the mask over her mouth and nose.

Around the little room people were sleeping and resting. Some looked very, very ill. Most of them hardly had an ounce of fat or muscle on them. It made Jen's heart ache.

"It's not a problem. We've all been new here," the woman said softly and went to get Jen a little bit of water. They couldn't spare much, but everyone got a few sips of water during breaks and before shifts.

Jen gratefully accepted the small bit of grainy water. Just removing the mask long enough to drink the few sips of murky water left her hacking and coughing something fierce. She quickly put the mask back on. Remembering how she had been when she first showed up in the city she knew that she wouldn't have lasted more than a few days had she failed that test. Maybe she had more to be grateful to Mu for than she thought.

The woman rubbed her back as Jen tried to catch her breath. "You seem much stronger than most people we get down here. You weren't knew to the city, were you?"

Jen shook her head. When she felt up to words again she softly murmured, "I'd been up there for about two or three years... I had no clue things were so bad down here. I'm so sorry that I took everything in the city for granted."

"There's no use forsaking your good fortune because others didn't have the same fortune. Oh, you can call me Kelly, by the way," Kelly smiled softly. Most benders in the plants wouldn't have had a chance to change from using their non-bender names.

"Thank you, Kelly. I'm Jen," Jen murmured quietly. After a few moments she asked the elder bender, "Do you know where the water-bender portion of the plants is and where I could get someone to show me how to work there."

"Jen, you shouldn't be around portions of the plants that don't correspond with your bending," Kelly said, "It's dangerous."

"Well, I'm a water-bender, too. I want to help out as much as I can to make up for being a part of the city that brought all of this suffering to you people," Jen did her best to rush her explanation and avoid comments on her abilities.

Kelly's eyebrows arched up and her eyes widened at Jen's confession. She didn't comment on it and instead said, "There's a water-bender over there. He can help you find where to go and show you what to do."

"Thank you so much, Kelly," Jen bobbed her head in a thankful nod and walked timidly over to the water-bender.

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"Jen did _what?_" Mu's voice thundered as he stared Reiki down with fierce eyes.

"She went to the plants, Mu, in Carol's place. Carol will be my apprentice and will help me heal everyone, from now on," Reiki said coolly. He was worried about Jen, but he was mad at Mu now and he wasn't going to give him a decent reaction.

"You just let her do that? Don't you know how important she is to our plans?" Mu demanded.

"Is that all you really care about, Mu? What about the fact that your student will probably die down there?" Reiki narrowed his eyes at the earth-bender in front of him. He had never given a single other bender such a look of hatred. "Jen went down there so more people up here could be saved and you're not even-"

"Reiki, I am worried about her! If I let myself be worried about all of my students and team as much as I wanted to be then I would never be able to do anything because I'd be too ****ing worried!" Mu didn't bother keeping his voice calm. He had been worried sick about Jen when she never showed up to training and as soon as he came to see if Reiki knew where she was, the other man had become extremely confrontational.

Reiki took a deep breath, "Look, Mu, I'm sorry. We both need to calm down. I'll explain it all to you in a minute when I'm not so upset."

"All right," Mu was reluctant to let him put it off, but in the end, he did. He sat down on the edge of one of the beds and sighed, "Do you know why Jen didn't tell anyone but you?"

"She told Blaze, too. She just didn't want to tell the others because she figured you all would stop her since she's the Avatar, now. She was determined not to let me keep breaking down like I was," Reiki sighed softly. He sat on another bed. "Mu... Does it make me a horrible person for letting her go down there so Carol could stay up here and I would be happy?"

"No, it makes her a selfless one," Mu reassured. He laid back across the bed, "I'm going to miss her on the rescue team. She was a real help."

"I'm sure she'll be back, soon. She'll come back when Nick isn't our leader any longer," Reiki promised. "It's going to be soon, you know. He's not going to stay for very much longer. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, it's good," Mu nodded. He watched the ceiling and gave another sigh, "I wonder how the others will take all of this. I know Cais will be upset that she's gone. He was really fond of her."

"Just tell the others we'll get her out of there before she's gone for good," Reiki whispered.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Guess who actually proof-read? Me! Sorry for the lame chapter!


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